Public 'must get behind drive' to allow low-income countries make generic vaccines

Kenyan doctors have said that donated vaccines are often very near expiry and cannot be used because of the required four-week gap between doses. File photo: AP/Themba Hadebe

The Irish public needs to get behind a call to share vaccine know-how with low-income countries in order to help Covid-19 be stopped around the world, doctors and aid workers have said.

The new Omicron variant should focus attention on increasing vaccine production globally as the current system of donations between countries is not working, according to Professor Susan Smith, a member of Doctors for Vaccine Equity in Ireland.