Ireland must do the 'right thing' on vaccines for poorer nations, says Oxfam chief

It could be 2024 by the time vaccines reach poorer nations. Stock picture

Oxfam Ireland has called for an Oireachtas committee to urgently examine proposals to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines to ensure that developing countries have free and equal access to the life-saving jabs.

Jim Clarken told a seminar hosted by the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group that supporting the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) proposal and Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (CTAP) initiative is the “right thing to do”.

More than 100,000 people are dying from Covid-19 across the globe every week but just 0.2% of low-income countries have access to vaccines, he said.

Nine in ten people in developing countries, he added, are unlikely to get a vaccine this year and, if the current vaccine inequity persists, it could be 2024 by the time vaccines reach poorer nations.

The TRIPs proposal, first mooted at the World Trade Organization (WTO) last October, could significantly increase vaccine production and make vaccines more accessible. It is supported by the US and New Zealand.

Ireland, however, has yet to support the temporary WTO waiver proposal or the World Health Organization’s CTAP initiative to share vaccine knowledge and know-how.

Oxfam, Mr Clarken said, intends to mount a ‘people’s vaccine’ campaign during the summer to change that.

It is the most significant health crisis of our lifetime. We need to be on the right side of history, ensuring that we did everything we could to save and protect lives across the world.

“The time is now for a people’s vaccine and for removing artificial barriers that will ultimately result in mass death and suffering, destroying economies both here and across the world for years to come, when the solution is staring us in the face,” he added, urging people to lobby their local politician to support the vaccine equity proposals.

Dr Shubhangi Karmakar of Trinity College Dublin said people are dying in India and other hard-hit nations because they do not have access to the necessary tools to survive.

Global interest must supersede self-interest by governments supporting the TRIPs and CTAP proposals, she said: “We need to equip everybody to be self-reliant and safe rather than relying on philanthropy or somebody else to come in to give us charity. The future relies on mutual aid not charity."

Public health expert Professor Gabriel Scally pointed out that Ireland has a history of being an “international force for good” and that the Dáil should consider the vaccine proposals and “do the right thing”.

Access to Medicines Ireland is also lobbying the Government and the EU to support the WTO waiver proposal, which “offers an opportunity to shorten this pandemic and save millions of lives”.

Meanwhile, the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association said it supports the WHO’s COVAX initiative to make vaccines available to all nations through sharing supplies and increasing production but that intellectual property rights should be protected.

The industry organisation said 11bn Covid-19 vaccine doses could be produced by the end of the year, which would be enough to vaccinate the world’s adult population.

IPHA chief executive Oliver O’Connor said: “Our industry wants to see the Covid-19 vaccines it discovered at record speed produced in enough quantities that can equitably meet global demand in the shortest possible timeframe."