Health Charities Call For Greater Coronavirus Vaccine Output To Fix 'Glaring Inequity'

GENEVA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2021) The Red Cross and Red Crescent movements urged states and pharma giants on Tuesday to produce more COVID-19 shots in order to fix the "glaring inequity" in access to vaccines around the world.

"We need to agree now on ways to increase COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution. The extraordinary times of a global pandemic demand extraordinary measures from the international community," their joint statement read.

Francesco Rocca, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Peter Maurer, of the International Committee of Red Cross, said governments needed to act together to tear down intellectual property and other barriers to a rapid scale-up of vaccine production and give companies incentives to share knowledge.

"In the middle of the worst pandemic in 100 years, the intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines is a necessary political commitment to address inequities in access at the scale and speed we need," Rocca said.

Western countries, which have received over 80% of vaccines, so far refuse to drop patent protections after US President Joe Biden floated the idea. German Chancellor Angela Merkel argued that intellectual rights were integral to pharma companies' creativity and guaranteed the quality of vaccines.