Covid-19 vaccines must be shared around the world

WHO director of Global Alert and Response Mike Ryan cautioned against a too-swift re-opening of Irish society. Picture: AP

Ireland has a moral duty to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are shared with less well-off countries, according to Dr Mike Ryan, the Irishman heading up the World Heath Organisation’s fight against Covid-19.

Dr Ryan was awarded Trócaire’s Romero Award jointly with Dr Lilian Otiso, chief executive of Kenyan healthcare provider LVCT Health.

The award recognised their efforts to protect vulnerable communities from Covid-19.

. @DrMikeRyan, Executive Director of the @WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, and Dr. @LilianOtiso of Kenyan healthcare provider @LVCTKe today receive Trócaire’s Romero Award in recognition of their efforts to protect vulnerable communities from Covid-19.https://t.co/yKhwy6lh6Y

— trócaire (@trocaire) February 17, 2021

Speaking at a webinar to mark the occasion, Dr Ryan said once the vulnerable in Ireland and Europe are vaccinated, governments should look to the rest of the world.

“Every government has a sovereign duty to protect its most vulnerable. The moral hazard for Ireland and Europe is once we cover those individuals, can we then begin to share with those who do not have access to vaccines?,” he asked.

He added even “a small slice of the cake” would make a crucial difference for low-income countries.

A vaccine tracker map created by Bloomberg Media shows just four countries on the African continent offering Covid-19 vaccinations.

In Europe, every country has now at least started its programme.

Dr Ryan also cautioned against a too-swift re-opening of Irish society.

He said Ireland had an extremely low transmission rate, down to fewer than 100 cases a day, in the summer.

“But the disease re-established itself. We need to make sure when we come out of these lockdowns that we don’t have to go back, that we are a little bit more measured and more flexible and agile in how we respond to clusters,” he said.

And he highlighted the work Trócaire has done for decades in protecting the vulnerable around the world.

“The pandemic has caused suffering, it has served as an amplifier for global inequities and injustices. The last year has reminded us how intrinsically linked health and human rights are,” he said.

Covid has laid bare and exploited fundamental inequities in public healthcare.” 

On a personal note, he hopes his elderly mother will shortly be vaccinated and benefit from the Ireland-EU deal.

And recalling his childhood in Sligo and Mayo, he said he lived the Irish saying "it takes a village to raise a child".

Dr Otiso said the vaccine outlook from Kenya is quite different.

Watching some richer countries ordering vaccine shipments which amount to more than five times their population causes fear among poorer countries, she said.

She said: “Covid-19 has been difficult for everyone but especially the vulnerable.

“Lockdowns and other restrictions made the poor even poorer, increased cases of gender-based violence and interrupted schooling for millions of children.” 

Community centres which LVCT Health previously offered as safe spaces for girls are now used for online learning, and she said the long-term impact of the lockdowns was worrying.