The People’s Vaccine: changing the rules to allow countries to manufacture vaccines themselves
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed deep inequities in global health systems, with only 1 in 10 people in low-income countries receiving a single vaccine while the rest of the world rolls out huge booster programmes. Meanwhile, big pharma companies have made record profits from Covid-19 vaccines, even though the bulk of the research behind them came from government funds.
Led by South Africa and India, countries in the global south are demanding an end to big pharma’s monopoly control of vaccine patents. Changes in the rules would help many more countries produce their own vaccines and gain control over their pandemic response. Governments like the UK and EU have stood in the way of this move, while pharma companies continue to lobby against it with all their might.
But the green shoots of an alternative system are growing across the world. In South Africa, scientists have copied Moderna’s vaccine and plan to teach others how to make it. Cuba is sharing the technology for its vaccine and providing it cheaply. And even in the US, a team of researchers has committed to provide its vaccine patent-free and profit-free.
The talk will lay out the case for a more democratic, de-colonised global healthcare system and discuss how we can bring it about.
Speaker: Tim Bierley, Vaccines Campaigner at Global Justice Now, followed by a discussion.
Register on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vaccines-for-profit-or-for-the-people-tickets-276528643617 for joining details.
