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Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
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19 Apr, 16 tweets, 10 min read
Interesting...

EU foreign policy chief Borrell tweeted support for waiving some intellectual property rules to scale up vaccine production globally.

Then someone at EU message control must've told him that EU policy is to block that waiver & wider production, so he deleted it
So, there are smart EU decision makers who understand the problem of vaccine scarcity & the need to ramp up production worldwide through the #TRIPSwaiver.

Sadly, other EU decision makers - those who want to boost pharma profits & have a longer pandemic - are on top right now.
Here's the link that EU foreign policy chief Borrell tweeted & then deleted: it's a call for a #PeoplesVaccine from scores of former presidents & prime ministers, and Nobel laureates.

This is the link that EU message control doesn't want you to see.

project-syndicate.org/commentary/pre…
Also tellingly, EU Commission President von der Leyen last month said she was “not ruling out” going so far as to waive intellectual property rights around Covid vaccines.

We've heard nothing further since. Guess she was told to shut up, too.

politico.eu/newsletter/bru…
The EU - along with the UK, the US, and others - have for months been blocking wider vaccine production globally by preventing the #TRIPSwaiver at the World Trade Organisation.

They are trying to fight a global pandemic while deliberately limiting vaccine supplies.

Madness.
It's not just past presidents & prime ministers, and not just Nobel laureates who back a vaccine. It's also NGOs like:

Oxfam: oxfam.org.uk/media/press-re…

MSF: msfaccess.org

HRW: hrw.org/news/2021/03/0…

And many more: peoplesvaccine.org
Some 100 governments around the world also back the move for a #TRIPSwaiver at the WTO.

msf.org/countries-obst…
Hundreds of European lawmakers are also on board, backing the #TRIPSwaiver at the WTO...
hrw.org/news/2021/03/2…
So, I'm glad to see that EU foreign policy chief Borrell instinctively agrees with all of us that the EU should stop blocking wider vaccine production globally - even if he was then told to shut up about it.
Morality, science, logic and history are all on our side:
naturemicrobiologycommunity.nature.com/posts/10-reaso…

A longer pandemic & more deaths are on theirs:
theguardian.com/world/2021/mar…
Everyone agrees that we can't fight a global pandemic without wider vaccine production globally.

Everyone except the governments currently blocking it, that is...
Yes, good question. Could someone at @EU_Commission explain why @JosepBorrellF first tweeted the right and moral thing - and then deleted it?

He should have stood by his tweet, indeed!

📢 Calling all EU citizens: sign this official "European Citizens Initiative", asking the EU to stop blocking wider vaccine production globally.

📢 Calling everyone: Share it!

👍 It's just about to pass 150,000 signatures: noprofitonpandemic.eu
🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉
Now over 150,000!
🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉

Keep sharing!
noprofitonpandemic.eu
Should we all thank Mr Borrell for helping the campaign reach this milestone today? 🤔

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More from @astroehlein

Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
20 Apr
A wonderful donation from the always inspirational @GretaThunberg.

COVAX has a key role to play in ensuring vaccines are available & affordable for all.

But COVAX won’t solve the global pandemic on its own.

A thread…

tl;dr: Money doesn’t solve scarcity caused by monopoly
First, what is COVAX? In short, it’s a global vaccine procurement facility.

It is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Read more here: gavi.org/sites/default/… Image
The EU, US, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Japan, and several other governments have pledged and donated billions to COVAX. This is, of course, welcome news. The money will will subsidise the vaccine bills for 92 low-income governments.

But...
Read 20 tweets
Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
18 Apr
Worldwide Covid deaths now over 3 million: worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Limited vaccine supplies mean jabs going too slowly, given rate of new variants emerging: theguardian.com/world/2021/mar…

Yet some governments still blocking wider vaccine production globally: hrw.org/news/2021/03/0…
How did we get here? How could these governments have adopted a policy that prolongs the pandemic?

This NY Times article is a good primer on this sorry tale:
nytimes.com/2021/03/21/wor…
These governments have spent months fighting with each other over short supplies of vaccines.

Meanwhile, most countries have yet to see a single dose.

Vaccine nationalism may be good clickbait for media, but it's terrible for public health.
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
16 Apr
So, a 3rd shot will be needed?
cnbc.com/2021/04/15/pfi…

So, rich governments will keep fighting over short supplies…

And most of the world will continue to have nothing…

Yet, the EU, UK, US & others keep blocking wider vaccine production globally:
hrw.org/news/2021/03/0…
The future is annual shots?

But there's no capacity to produce so many shots that quickly globally.

So billions of people will never get the latest jab - and be a source of newer variants…

And we'll need newer shots for newer variants…

Forever?

Who benefits from that?
This is exactly what experts have been warning against:
oxfam.org/en/press-relea…

And exactly why vaccine equity matters - for everyone:
hrw.org/news/2021/04/0…

#PeoplesVaccine
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
16 Apr
Amid worldwide vaccine shortages, everyone can agree we need expanded vaccine production globally to tackle the global pandemic...

Everyone except the governments that are currently blocking it...

hrw.org/news/2021/03/0…
Fewer than 600 million vaccine doses have been administered around the world (population ~8 billion);

75% of those in just 10 mostly high-income countries;

Most countries have yet to administer a single dose.

The killer virus is laughing at us.

who.int/director-gener…
Support for the #TRIPSwaiver keeps growing...


Most people get it...
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
15 Apr
I see some people tweeting about getting vaccinated or enjoying something for the first time again after lockdowns.

Could I suggest a bit of care with such tweets, please?

Don't forget the billions of people who are not so lucky, many of whom won't see a jab for years.
It's fine to express joy and relief, of course, but maybe just also spare a thought (and a tweet) for the vast majority of people in the world who have been utterly screwed over by the policy of the EU, UK, US & other rich governments to block wider vaccine production globally.
If you're in the EU, share this article about how the EU is blocking wider vaccine production globally: hrw.org/news/2021/03/2…

And sign & share this official European Citizens' Initiative to force leaders to act: noprofitonpandemic.eu
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Stroehlein Profile picture
14 Apr
"There are many steps that can be taken to ramp up vaccine production and broaden distribution. These include… temporarily waiving intellectual property barriers..."

February 2021

World leaders have wasted 2 months since then...

foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/02/vac… Image
"this is not the beginning of the end; it is only the beginning of an endless wait: There aren’t enough vaccines to go around in the richest countries, let alone the poorest ones."

December 2020

World leaders have wasted 4 months since then...

nytimes.com/2020/12/07/opi… Image
"Governments should support India and South Africa’s proposal to waive some aspects of global intellectual property (IP) rules to enable large-scale manufacturing" - @hrw

October 2020

World leaders have wasted 6 months since then...

hrw.org/news/2020/10/2… Image
Read 8 tweets

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