vaccine

Africa to receive just 10% of doses needed to control mpox outbreak by end of year

December 26, 2024

African countries are set to receive just one tenth of the vaccines they need to control the mpox outbreak by the end of 2024, analysis from the People’s Medicines Alliance has found, while rich countries hold nearly all of global supplies. As the outbreak spreads across Africa, high prices are keeping vaccines and tests out of reach for the people most at risk.

Africa needs approximately 10 million vaccine doses to control the outbreak, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, but only around 1 million have been delivered. An estimated 210 million vials of vaccine have been produced to date, but more than 99 per cent are thought to be sat in rich country stockpiles.

The cost of the key mpox vaccine called MVA-BN, produced by Bavarian Nordic, has raised serious concerns about accessibility. UNICEF recently negotiated a price of up to $65 per dose from Bavarian Nordic, which is almost 2.5 times more expensive than most other vaccines in its portfolio.

Vaccines made with similar technology can be produced for just $5 per dose by developing country manufacturers.

Global health advocates are calling for the immediate redistribution of stockpiled vaccines to regions in urgent need, to spark ambition in the global response.

Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Policy co-lead for the People’s Medicines Alliance, said: “The mpox crisis is in Africa but the stockpiled doses are miles away in rich countries. So far, prices have been far too expensive and will quickly exhaust the funds of international agencies like Gavi. More are expected, especially for children, but with less than a week left of the year, only a fraction of the vaccines promised to Africa have arrived.”

In November, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the LC16 vaccine, produced by Japanese company KM Biologics, as the only vaccine authorised for children. This is particularly important given that children under the age of 5 continue to be the main group dying from mpox. Although Japan announced a donation of 3 million doses with their specific syringes, the first supplies are only now starting to arrive in the DRC, while discussions are still ongoing about supplying other African countries affected by the crisis.

Amidst vaccine scarcity and high prices, several countries and health authorities are being forced to pursue conservative vaccination plans that do not measure up to what is actually needed. With bolder commitments by rich countries to provide more vaccines, African countries could undertake more ambitious mpox strategies and responses.

The majority of mpox cases and deaths are occurring in the DRC. However, countries are being hampered in detecting and confirming infections because they are lacking the means to adequately diagnose them. Producers are charging around $20 per individual mpox test — this is nearly equivalent to the DRC’s total annual healthcare budget per person.

Dr Samuel Mangala, Oxfam Field Coordinator in Equator province, said: “The situation here in the DRC is unfathomable. Every day, we are seeing children die. In my area, we have not yet seen a vaccine.

“We can only ask why are vaccines being hoarded elsewhere when the virus is here, killing people here, killing children here?”

Advocates argue that the price of these tests should be cut to $5 which would still allow the company to profit. Diagnostics should also be made far more accessible. The DRC’s capacity to diagnose cases is so restricted that only 20 mpox cases have actually been confirmed by laboratory tests.

Peter Maybarduk, Access to Medicines Director at Public Citizen, said: “Once again, people’s health is put at risk by pharmaceutical companies with power to decide who gets what product, when and at what price.

“If we make vaccines affordable and widely available, countries will be able to pursue more aggressive strategies to stamp out pandemic threats. Health agencies will be able to plan with ambition. Protecting public health requires stopping outbreaks at their source and putting health before profit.”

Currently, governments are negotiating a Pandemic Agreement with the WHO to ensure effective preparedness, prevention and response to future health crises. However, high-income countries are opposing legally binding measures that are the basis for equity, including equitable product sharing, technology transfer, fair sharing of benefits arising from sharing pathogens and removing IP barriers. This has thrown negotiations into deadlock.

Without such measures, the mpox outbreak may become yet another example of avoidable tragedy in global health.

Notes to editors

According to WHO, as of 6 November 2024, 899,000 vaccine doses have been allocated for nine African countries. This is the latest official information on the allocation of mpox vaccine doses. https://www.who.int/news/item/06-11-2024-vaccine-doses-allocated-to-9-african-countries-hardest-hit-by-mpox-surge

According to Africa CDC, the Japanese company KM Biologics has started to deliver the first of the 3 million pledged LC16 vaccine doses to the DRC.

The company is still negotiating liability issues with other African countries. Based on official and media reports, the People’s Medicines Alliance estimated that so far the number of doses delivered in Africa is around 1 million, which is 10 per cent of what Africa CDC says was needed by 2025 to handle the outbreak.

At Bavarian Nordic’s Annual General Meeting earlier this year, the company said it had produced 10 million doses in the last 2 years (AGM minutes, p.3). KM Biologics has released no recent information, but a 2022 WHO document disclosed that the company had produced approximately 200 million doses. For this analysis, the People’s Medicines Alliance has estimated that these figures together comprise the current total supply of mpox vaccines suitable for use in Africa (210 million).

At $65 per dose, Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine, Jynneos (MVA-BN), is the second-most expensive vaccine that UNICEF distributes, according to the Public Citizen findings. After Jynneos, all other UNICEF vaccines are priced under $27, with the lowest price listed at 18 cents for tetanus and diphtheria shots. In October 2024, twelve health advocacy organizations sent a letter to Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin urging the company to increase UNICEF’s supply from one million to four million doses under its current deal, without additional charge, cutting the effective price to $16.25 per dose. The organizations also urged Bavarian Nordic to lower the price of Jynneos for all low- and middle-income countries and to release its vaccine technology to local manufacturers to support sustainable access. After months of enquiry by advocates and news outlets, Bavarian Nordic has still not explained its pricing practices. https://www.citizen.org/article/fact-sheet-expanding-access-to-mpox-vaccines-through-affordable-transparent-pricing/

In November 2024, dozens of health groups called for lowering the price of the mpox diagnostic test from $20 to $5 per test for supply to African countries including the DRC, the epicenter of the mpox emergency. The groups argue that the DRC, one of the world’s poorest nations, spends just $22 per person on health care annually — nearly the same cost as a single $20 test. Estimated production costs suggest each test could be sold at a profit for $5. Producers have not so far lowered test prices or published the results of an audit of test costs. https://www.citizen.org/news/health-groups-urge-cepheid-and-danaher-to-lower-price-of-mpox-tests-for-african-countries/

At a media briefing hosted by Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on 5 December 2024, Dr Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC Director-General confirmed that testing remains a challenge in the DRC, with only 20 per cent of cases confirmed by laboratories.

https://healthpolicy-watch.news/drc-expects-diagnosis-of-disease-x-by-weekend-mpox-continues-to-spread/

World leaders’ UNGA pledge to vaccinate world falls woefully short as only a third of countries meet target

September 22, 2022

Two-thirds of countries are yet to meet the target of vaccinating 70 percent of people in all countries against COVID-19 set a year ago at the UN General Assembly, according to figures published today by Oxfam and The People’s Vaccine Alliance.

The campaign groups said there had been a massive failure to deliver on the promise despite President Biden persuading world leaders to commit to meeting the World Health Organization target.

They are calling for leaders to radically shift their approach for the current and future pandemics by prioritising sustainable, local manufacturing in all regions of the world to ensure developing countries get equal access to vaccines, tests and treatments. They said the continued approach of leaving Big Pharma in charge of the response has prolonged the pandemic for all of us and continues to cause havoc the world cannot afford.

The death toll from COVID-19 is four times higher in lower-income countries, where less than half (48 percent) the population have had their full initial round of vaccinations. At the current rate, it will take almost two and a half years for 70 percent of people in the poorest countries to be fully vaccinated. Meanwhile rich countries are already beginning to rollout booster programmes and in some cases fifth shots, using the new generation vaccines, the majority of which have been ordered by rich nations.

At the same time, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are continuing to reap huge profits while refusing to work with the WHO to share their vaccine technology, despite it being funded by public money.

Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, said: “This massive failure to meet promises to protect the world from COVID-19 is indefensible. While the end of the pandemic should be in sight, hundreds of millions of people in developing countries are still unprotected from COVID-19. We are calling on President Biden and other world leaders not to turn their backs on them while the virus continues to kill and cause devastation to people’s livelihoods.

“It is time to radically redesign a system that puts pharma profits ahead of people’s lives. Developing countries need access to vaccines, tests and treatments at the same time as rich countries, not years later after people have died. We are seeing the same deadly inequality for COVID-19 treatments and now for monkeypox vaccines, governments must not allow this to continue.”

Lack of vaccination means the need for COVID-19 tests and treatments is even greater in poorer nations but inequality in access is even starker, yet rich nations are at this moment fiercely resisting any attempt to extend the WTO agreement on vaccines to tests and treatments. Reports from the ACT-Accelerator indicated that almost no doses of any outpatient antivirals are available in low- and middle-income countries.

The campaign groups said this persistent gap demonstrates the massive failings in the international response to COVID-19, which continually ignored the need to diversify manufacturing so that developing countries could make their own doses and manage their own supply concurrently with deliveries to rich countries. They are calling for leaders to:

Implement an immediate extension of the June 2022 WTO decision on COVID-19 vaccine patents to include tests and treatments – there can be no justification for delay.
Support and protect the World Health Organisation led mRNA technology transfer hub, including demanding Moderna withdraw patents in South Africa and ensure the hub has freedom to develop Covid-19 and other life-saving vaccines now and into the future.
Deliver a Pandemic Treaty that delivers life-saving vaccines, tests and treatments as global public goods, free of the monopoly control of pharmaceutical corporations.
Commit to an unprecedented scale up of financing to strengthen country health systems in low and middle-income countries and global funding support to close the vaccination coverage gaps for low- and middle-income countries that have yet to hit the 70 percent target.
Reject Big Pharma led proposals – the so-called Berlin Declaration – which would leave full control of who lives and who dies in their hands.

A recent report found that a combination of unpredictable vaccine supplies, lack of antiviral treatments and poor funding for health systems led to lower vaccination rates in developing countries, and that vaccine hesitancy was being used as an excuse to mask the international failures in the COVID-19 response.

Maaza Seyoum, Global South Convenor of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “Everyone everywhere should have access to the tools needed to fight a pandemic, But COVID-19 has been a case of survival of the richest. For most of this pandemic, big pharmaceutical companies left people in developing countries to die without vaccines and treatments while they sold doses to rich governments in the global north.

“Now, big pharma is trying to rewrite history, claiming that the industry will voluntarily ensure global access to medicines in the next pandemic. We know from COVID-19 that this isn’t true. Governments cannot rely on the good will of pandemic profiteers to do the right thing. We need to overhaul this system to put human life before private profit.”

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of over 100 organisations, have distributed posters across New York, host of the UN General Assembly, describing the COVID-19 pandemic as “survival of the richest”.

Notes to editors:

A discussion hosted by the People’s Vaccine Alliance and others on ensuring justice, equity and human rights in response to global health threats, will take place on Thursday 22 September at 12.30PM US time at the Yale Club in New York. Media interested in attending can register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScKU8MtTbqFumoM-mntjTzrW8MUPXV9DwYmX3dWruo7M7LP_Q/viewform

A map of locations where photographers can find Survival of the Richest posters is available here. The red “Dedicated Site PVA” marking will be maintained by campaigners throughout UNGA high level week: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1chRWsUsTHA4BoBXxFPbh5LqtmNeVfFI&usp=sharing

A recent report from Matahari Global Solutions, Treatment Preparedness Coalition and the People’s Vaccine Alliance found that unpredictable vaccine supplies, lack of antiviral treatments and poor funding for health systems led to low vaccination rates and limited the ability to treat patients. https://itpcglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Mapping-Access-Gaps-in-COVID-19.pdf

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) is pressuring governments to take a greater role to fund, support, de-risk, and provide data for research and development. But they want governments to hand companies a monopoly on the resulting drugs and to waive liability for any adverse impacts. In return, the industry claims it will do better to improve “equity” in the next pandemic, proposing the same voluntary measures that failed during COVID-19 in a lobbying paper dubbed the “Berlin Declaration”.

Data sourced from Our World in Data on 14.9.22

A search of the 194 members of the WHO on Our World in Data found that 60 countries have reached the 70 percent target, 129 are below and 5 have not reported any data.
The rate of people being fully vaccinated is based on the number of people who were reported as fully vaccinated between 07/06/2022 and 04/09/2022 – 37,253,644 people or 418,580 per day on average. 70 percent of the population of low-income countries, minus those who have already been fully vaccinated is, 368,878,851. Dividing this figure by the daily average rate of vaccination gives 881 days until the target is reached. This figure does include Rwanda who are the only low-income country to have already reached the 70 percent target, but it is not possible to exclude them from the dataset we are using – the difference including them makes to the overall figure is negligible though.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance – a journey to be proud of

July 25, 2022

Now and then, Oxfam and its supporters are part of something that defines who we are. Our history is punctuated with our part in big struggles. Always, together with others.

Sometimes we win; often we don’t, at least immediately – but we always take the side of those on the sharp end of our deeply unequal world.

Well, we’ve been at it again. Oxfam for the last two years has taken a historic side in the fight against vaccine apartheid. Last month marked a milestone in that struggle. We today want to recognize that journey (so far). And to thank people for their role in creating and powering this movement.

When COVID-19 began, we immediately knew that the vaccine would be vital to saving lives and ending the pandemic. But we also knew – through our history of work on access to medicines – that powerful big pharmaceutical corporations would use this opportunity to restrict supply, to put the opportunity for unprecedented profits before the lives of millions. With others, Oxfam set up the People’s Vaccine Alliance.

The ambitious idea? To break the powerful monopolies held over Covid-19 vaccines and technologies by some of the most powerful companies on earth, who in turn were protected by the richest governments on earth in a colonial manner. The collective aim? To help save the lives of millions of people from a deadly virus, and the compounding economic impacts, by developing countries being able to control their own vaccine supply. What it would look like? People from all walks of life coming together around the world in solidarity – joined by evidence, science, influential voices, united in hope that they have the power to demand better.

The journey

It began in May 2020, right at the inception of the pandemic, when we and others asked President Rhamaphosa of South Africa – who became the global leader on ending vaccine apartheid at the World Trade Organization – to come together with other world leaders on this issue. Since then Oxfam as part of the people’s vaccine alliance has produced powerful research – and got out the data to millions of people across the world. We’ve taken on the pharma companies directly – even directly in their AGM’s. We’ve mobilized millions and ensured voices from developing countries were heard. We’ve worked very closely with influential thought leaders and won over 150 former world leaders and Nobel Laureates behind this cause; worked with epidemiologists, health and economic experts, activists, celebrities and public figures the world over who have stood alongside us. We’ve fought to win over the public imagination (see this fun video).

Most importantly, some fifteen million people have joined us on this journey. A people’s movement.

And we saw 100 governments come on board. We even saw the US government come out in favour of a version of the proposal we pushed for a year ago – which was unprecedented. We saw a significant shift in the dial in the international community.

Where we stand today

Last month we saw a decision that was not something to celebrate about, but at the same time showed how far we have come. An agreement was made at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on vaccines and intellectual property. In no way was it the comprehensive waiving of intellectual property (IP) we had fought for, and we said so, together with many others. It was a weak text pushed through by bullying rich nations.

Nevertheless, despite all its flaws, it represents one clear thing: the recognition by rich nations that intellectual property and the monopolies of big pharmaceutical corporations are a block; and that this system is broken. The EU and others had consistently said that IP was not an issue in access to vaccines; now in the last few months they have changed tack, admitting that it was and then seeking to force through this weak agreement instead.

Our collective efforts were pivotal to forcing this turn around. Even the head of the WTO – who has been criticized for favouring rich countries – took the time out to criticize our efforts.

It’s been an unforgettable journey so far. We don’t want to single out individual affiliates and countries. We know how everyone has played a part. We want to thank you all.

The fight continues!

By no means have we won. The struggle continues. We must break those monopolies which have cost us – and we say this without exaggeration – millions of lives. But we have played our part in progress. We have to keep fighting for more. We have also helped build the secretariat for an entire new institution, backed by millions of dollars from donors, that has an exciting future head of it. The momentum we have created will help us to fight for a people’s vaccine – but also for universal healthcare, access to life-saving medicines, and for fighting inequality.

We especially feel proud that Oxfam has helped unite hundreds of organizations worldwide, and millions of people. We have played our part in uniting different movements – from trade to access to medicines to health to inequality to human rights and more.

They are clear – as we all must be – about an Oxfam that takes sides. That stands in solidarity with the many, against the rich and the powerful. That puts life over profit. That’s what defines us. We hope we can all feel proud about that.

G7 failure to tackle hunger crisis will leave millions to starve

June 28, 2022

Responding to news of the US$4.5 billion pledge made by the G7 leaders to tackle global hunger, Max Lawson, Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam said:

“Faced with the worst hunger crisis in a generation, the G7 have simply failed to take the action that is needed. Many millions will face terrible hunger and starvation as a result.’

‘Instead of doing what is needed, the G7 are leaving millions to starve and cooking the planet.’

‘The G7 say themselves that 323 million people are on the brink of starvation, because of the current crisis, a new record high. Nearly a billion people, 950 million are projected to be hungry in 2022. We need at least US$28.5 billion more from the G7 to finance food and agriculture investments to end hunger and fill the huge gap in UN humanitarian appeals. The US$4.5 billion announced is a fraction of what is needed. The G7 could have done so much more here in Germany to end the food crisis and prevent hunger and starvation worldwide.’

‘The G7 weakening of their commitment to stop public money subsidising planet killing fossil fuels is appalling and makes climate breakdown ever more real. This is further exacerbated by their lack of progress in delivering promised finance to support climate action in developing countries.’

‘The G7 refusal to heed the call of last year’s UN climate summit to strengthen their weak targets to cut emissions sends out a terrible signal to the rest of the World, especially to vulnerable communities already suffering the impacts of the worsening climate crisis.’

Food and hunger

‘Pledging more money is just part of what the G7 could do to end hunger. They could ban biofuels. They could cancel debts of poor nations. They could tax the excess profits of food and energy corporates. Most importantly they could have tackled the economic inequality and climate breakdown that is driving this hunger. They failed to do any of this, despite having the power to do so.’

‘‘For every dollar in aid given, poor countries have to pay back US$2 dollars to their creditors, often banks in New York or London making huge profits. The G7 should have cancelled those debts to enable countries to spend money instead on feeding their people.’

‘The G7 was held in the same location in Germany in 2015, where a commitment was made to lift 500 million people out of hunger. Seven years later and in fact there are as many as 335 million more hungry people in the world. We urgently need new approaches to addressing hunger that start with addressing underlying drivers such as economic inequality and climate breakdown. Current efforts are woefully inadequate.”

‘Corporate profits have soared during COVID-19 and the number of billionaires has increased more in 24 months than it did in 23 years. This food crisis is big business.’

‘The G7 had the opportunity to tax the big winners from the crises. The energy and food corporations are making huge profits, creating 62 new food billionaires. They could have agreed to coordinated windfall taxes to fight this crisis and missed a huge opportunity to do so.’

“What we need to see a clear action plan with a new funding not just from traditional donors, but from companies and others that have profited from the current spike in energy and food prices to address the underlying causes of global food insecurity and hunger. It should be clear that the recently launched Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS) will complement, rather than undermine existing institutions responsible for global coordination of food and agriculture, including the Committee on World Food Security which plays a key role in policy setting. There is a need to clarify what concrete measures will be proposed under this initiative, and ensure sufficient funding is attached to it to ensure it can deliver.”

“In addition, G7 need to fund the US$46 billion global humanitarian appeal which, despite increasing five-fold in the last decade, is only 20 percent funded today. They should agree to fill this funding gap of US$37 billion immediately.”

Climate

The G7 commitments to largely decarbonise their power sectors by 2035 and their road sector by 2030 point into the right direction but should have been stronger, and a much-needed 2030 coal phase out date is missing.

We welcome the initial steps towards Just Transition Energy Partnerships with Indonesia, India, Senegal and Vietnam as such partnerships can create predictability and reliability. Yet, those partnerships need to be backed up by financial commitments to make them effective, and the design and implementation of such partnerships must involve local communities and vulnerable populations from the beginning, based on truly participatory, inclusive and gender just approaches.

COVID-19

Despite the growing danger of new COVID-19 variants, and the failure to deliver even half of the vaccines they promised a year ago at the Carbis Bay Summit in the UK a year ago. Only 18 percent of the poorest countries are fully vaccinated. The G7 continue to defend the monopolies and intellectual property of their pharmaceutical corporations over supporting developing countries to make their own, generic vaccines.

‘What a difference a year makes. The G7 want us to think COVID-19 is over, and the ongoing global health crisis doesn’t exist. Tell that to the many millions yet to have a single vaccine, and the many still dying from this cruel disease.’

Notes to Editors

West Africa is currently facing its worst food crisis in a decade, with 27 million people going hungry. This number could rise to 38 million – an unprecedented level – unless urgent action is taken.
In East Africa, one person is estimated to be dying of hunger every 48 seconds in drought-ravaged Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, as actions have remained too slow and too limited to prevent the hunger crisis from escalating. The rainfall deficit in the most recent rainy season in these three countries has been the most severe in at least 70 years.
In Yemen and Syria, protracted conflicts have shattered people’s livelihoods. In Yemen, more than 17 million people – over half of the population – don’t have enough food, and pockets of the country are experiencing famine-like conditions. In Syria, six out of 10 Syrians – 12.4 million people – are struggling to put food on the table. This means many families are resorting to extreme measures to cope: going into debt to buy food, taking children out of school to work, and reducing the number of meals they have each day. Marrying off young daughters so there is one less mouth to feed has become another negative coping strategy.
The FAO State of the World’s Food Security report 2021 (page 10) shows that 615 million people were hungry in 2015. The WFP are now talking about as many as 950 million in hunger this year, 2022. The difference between these two is 335 million. When they last met in Germany in 2015, the G7 made the following declaration in their communique:
‘As part of a broad effort involving our partner countries, and international actors, and as a significant contribution to the Post 2015 Development Agenda, we aim to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.’
According to the UN OCHA Financial Tracking Service there is a US$37 billion funding shortfall in humanitarian appeals. According to the Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger report, which sets out a 10-year plan to eradicate hunger, an additional US$330 billion is needed over 10 years and that the donor funding gap over this period is US$140 billion, so US$14 billion per year. Adding US$37 billion and US$14 billion gives us a total of US$51 billion each year.
The G7 share of total aid is around 65 percent, so the G7 share of this figure is US$33 billion. They promised US$4.5 billion, leaving a shortfall of US$28.5 billion.

WTO agrees a deal on patents for Covid-19 vaccines – Oxfam reacts

June 17, 2022

Responding to news that governments at the World Trade Organization (WTO) have agreed a deal on patents for COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries, Max Lawson, Co-Chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance and Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam, said:

“This is absolutely not the broad intellectual property waiver the world desperately needs to ensure access to vaccines and treatments for everyone, everywhere. The EU, UK, US, and Switzerland blocked that text. This so-called compromise largely reiterates developing countries’ existing rights to override patents in certain circumstances. And it tries to restrict even that limited right to countries which do not already have capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines. Put simply, it is a technocratic fudge aimed at saving reputations, not lives.

“The conduct of rich countries at the WTO has been utterly shameful. The EU has blocked anything that resembles a meaningful intellectual property waiver. The UK and Switzerland have used negotiations to twist the knife and make any text even worse. And the US has sat silently in negotiations with red lines designed to limit the impact of any agreement.

“South Africa and India have led a twenty-month fight for the rights of developing countries to manufacture and access vaccines, tests, and treatments. It is disgraceful that rich countries have prevented the WTO from delivering a meaningful agreement on vaccines and have dodged their responsibility to take action on treatments while people die without them.

“There are some worrying new obligations in this text that could actually make it harder for countries to access vaccines in a pandemic. We hope that developing countries will now take bolder action to exercise their rights to override vaccine intellectual property rules and, if necessary, circumvent them to save lives.”

Notes to editors

Spokespeople are available for interviews in Geneva, where the WTO is hosting its 12th ministerial conference.

In October 2020, South Africa and India proposed a broad waiver of the Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agreement covering COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments. The EU, UK, and Switzerland blocked that proposal. The US supported an IP waiver for only vaccines. The final text agreed is a watered down waiver of one small clause of the TRIPS agreement relating to exports of vaccines. It also contains new barriers that are not in the original TRIPS agreement text.

Nearly 30,000 people have died every day from Covid since WTO talks on vaccine IP began

June 10, 2022

17.5 million people have died from COVID-19 in the 20 months since WTO talks about relaxing COVID-19 intellectual property (IP) rules began – the equivalent of nearly 30,000 people a day said campaigners from Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance today ahead of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial. Over half of deaths caused by COVID-19 have been in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The IP waiver, which India and South Africa proposed in October 2020 and is backed by over 100 countries (including New Zealand), would allow low- and middle-income countries to produce their own cheaper generic COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments. However, a few countries – the UK, Switzerland, and those in the EU – have blocked WTO talks from reaching an agreement which could have saved countless lives.

Now, instead of focusing on the IP waiver, WTO negotiations are focused on a dangerous and limited alternative. Campaigners warn that the alternative proposal will not help producers in lower-income countries as it adds more hurdles preventing poorer countries from producing vaccines. In addition, it only covers vaccines, not tests or treatments, is not global in scope and does not cover all IP or technology transfer.

Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s health policy lead said: “Nearly thirty thousand people around the world have died every day since South Africa and India first proposed the IP waiver back in October 2020. If the world had acted immediately then many of these people could still be alive today. Yet, the UK and EU countries have continually sought to delay and dilute any meaningful outcome at the WTO and have refused to listen to the concerns of poorer countries.

“This is outrageous hypocrisy from leaders who said vaccines should be a global public good yet have worked for 20 months to derail the very process that could have delivered that promise.

“With the world facing multiple crises on top of COVID, it is incomprehensible that we are still debating whether or not it’s a good idea for poorer countries to be able to produce their own vaccines, tests and treatments for this and any future pandemics.”

Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned that the deadlock at the WTO on an IP waiver risks ongoing trade negotiations and undermines the credibility of the organisation, especially as the global economy is facing the prospect of a recession coupled with rising food and fuel prices.

Julia Kosgei, policy advisor at the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said: “The EU says they are listening to their African partners, but in reality, they are turning a deaf ear to their calls for a real vaccine waiver and are instead in bed with Big Pharma.

“EU countries should finally show some flexibility and good faith needed to secure a genuine IP waiver and rebuild trust with the world at this critical moment.”

Campaigners warn that the current vaccine apartheid is likely to be repeated with the next generation vaccines as well as for COVID treatments. Putting up new barriers to making vaccines could set a dangerous precedent for future pandemics, they warn.

Kosgei added: “‘Why should people in lower-income countries be forced to face today’s COVID variants with yesterday’s vaccines, while rich countries once again monopolize the supply of new vaccines made to protect against new variants?

“We don’t want charity; we want solidarity, and we want our rights! We call on all governments to finally do the right thing and back the waiving of IP for COVID vaccines, tests and treatments, for this and any future pandemics”.

Notes

The number of deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic is based on the central estimates from the Economist’s excess death model. South Africa and India proposed an IP waiver at the WTO on 15 October 2020. In the 597 days since the waiver was proposed (up to 4 June 2022), 17,543,563 people are estimated to have died.

The administered percentage for Portugal, Austria and Cyprus is based on the total doses administered according to Our World in Data divided by total deliveries (minus doses that were then donated) according to the EU’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The African CDC reports that 70.4 percent of doses have been administered.

According to the WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database, African countries spend on average 68 US dollars per capita on health compared to high-income countries that spend 2,239 US dollars. This is based on Government spending and capital expenditure in 2019 using current US dollars.

The new proposal was tabled by the WTO secretariat after discussions between the so-called Quad countries, comprised of the European Union, the United States, South Africa, and India. Only the EU has agreed to the text. It focuses only on COVID-19 vaccines and not on treatments. It includes new barriers to vaccine production, such as an impossible requirement to identify and list every patent relating to a vaccine before using flexibilities