OVER 350 SCIENTISTS and healthcare professionals have signed a statement urging the Irish Government to support the generic production of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments to address global vaccine inequity.
The call comes after the Irish Government announced the extension of the Covid-19 vaccine boosterto people aged over 50, amid a winter surge of Covid-19 cases.
The signatories of the public-health statement include Dr Cillian De Gascun, director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory at UCD; Prof Clíona Ní Cheallaigh, a consultant in infectious diseases at St James’ Hospital; Prof Kingston Mills of TCD; Prof Sam McConkey, Deputy Dean of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, and Prof Luke O’Neill of TCD.
Professor Uí Cheallaigh said of the call for vaccine equity: “Our experience with HIV clearly demonstrated that we cannot ignore disease prevention and control in the Global South without it impacting on disease control and prevention in the Global North.
“We urgently need to share the know-how, reagents and technology needed for production of Covid vaccines with many companies in the Global South who are ready and willing to produce vaccines.
Until we do this, we will continue to face new variants and we, as well as those living in the Global South, will be facing the consequences of protecting the financial returns of vaccine companies at the expense of human lives for years to come.
In a statement published today on Amnesty International’s website, the signatories have supported four key measures in relation to Covid-19 vaccine supply: support the generic production of vaccines in developing countries; ensure vaccine makers share vaccine production details with those countries; facilitate the global redistribution of vaccines to “avoid vaccine hoarding and wastage”; and ensure that any global strategy for booster vaccines is “evidence based and ethical”.
The letter calls on the Irish Government to support these four measures.
It comes two weeks before the World Trade Organisation will decide upon the proposal to suspend intellectual property rights for vaccines, diagnostics and treatment of Covid 19 (this is called the ‘TRIPS’ waiver).
CEO of Oxfam Ireland Jim Clarken said it may be years before populations in many parts of the world are vaccinated.
The unwillingness to waive patents, as a temporary measure, is costing lives and livelihoods, and will ensure that this pandemic lasts far longer and causes far more human suffering and economic damage than it already has.
“This is a human rights issue and a completely unacceptable situation given that we have the knowledge required to protect millions of people.”
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