The longer we delay global vaccination, the greater the harm

We must use all the tools we have to fight this pandemic and that has to include a Trips waiver, writes Alice-Mary Higgins

As Omicron sweeps through our society, imagine how it would feel if only 5.8% of the population and just 27% of frontline health workers were fully vaccinated. That is the devastating reality for many African countries, and it could have been avoided. File picture: AP /Themba Hadebe

Recently, the Seanad unanimously passed a motion which I proposed, calling on the Government to publicly support a waiver on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) for Covid-19 vaccines.

This temporary suspension of intellectual property restrictions is vital to scale up the manufacture of vaccines and reach the levels of vaccination needed to reduce deaths and get ahead of the virus.