President Higgins calls for fairer distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations

Mr Higgins was speaking in a video address to mark International Workers’ Day today. File Picture: Maxwells

President Michael D Higgins has called on the world's wealthier countries to show “solidarity” by distributing Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations.

The President said the ongoing Covid-19 crisis had "laid bare many of the dire consequences of both existing economic inequalities and widespread inadequacies in social protection.” 

This, he said, was “a great scar on our humanity.” 

President Higgins said the world had experienced crises before and had been able come through them.

“We must not just survive, we must change. That change must be a deep change if we are not to simply keep failing better than before.” 

Mr Higgins was speaking in a video address to mark International Workers’ Day today.

Looking ahead one year, President Higgins wondered whether the world would learn lessons from the pandemic and "the fundamental questions it has posed about our lives."

"Solidarity in an interdependent world must mean - when it comes to global challenges such as pandemics, climate change, sustainability - standing shoulder to shoulder with those in other countries, especially poorer nations with fewer financial resources," he said.

President Higgins said vaccines should be “available, accessible and affordable” for all people around the world.

"Solidarity within and between countries and the co-operation of the private sector in what are entirely new circumstances is essential if we are to overcome the challenges presented to us by Covid-19 and in particular with regard to accessing appropriate medical treatments."

Mr Higgins also spoke of the status of workers the world over.

“The extent to which workers, of all kinds of work, wherever the setting, with all their diverse abilities, will be enabled to contribute fully to their society in years to come will surely be a litmus test of how well we have learned the painful lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

The President said May 1 was a day to "honour workers’ efforts, and celebrate the fruits of their activism, especially during a period in which they have been asked to deal with the personal, social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic." 

In closing, President Higgins expressed his hope that the countries of the world would together "commit to building a post-pandemic society based on solidarity, care, compassion, kindness and, above all, equality."

"Let us today too never forget the efforts of those worker activists, women and men, who led the demand for democracy at home, in the workplace and in society, and secure the rights we enjoy today," he added.