Thread by @astroehlein

Everyone reading this knows there’s a vaccine shortage in this world.

Rich governments are squabbling over scarce supplies.

Most of the world is left begging for scraps - and not even getting that.

But it's an artificially created shortage.

It doesn't have to be this way.

The numbers:

World population: ~8 billion.

Number of people fully vaccinated: ~220 million.

Share of world vaccinated: 2.8%.

Estimated target for herd immunity: 70%.

At this rate, it will take years to vaccinate everyone.

Years...

ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-…

⬛️ Years of more death...

⬛️ Years of more economic disruption...

⬛️ Years of more opportunity for new variants of the virus to emerge that are more deadly, more virulent, and/or resistant to the current vaccines...

oxfam.org/en/press-relea…

The vaccine rollout has been bitterly uneven: the shortages hit some harder than others...

➡️ 83% of shots that have gone into arms worldwide have been administered in high- & upper-middle-income countries.

➡️ Only 0.2% in low-income countries.

nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Rich govts & drug companies know the rollout is going too slowly to meet global need.

As they talk about "3rd shot" boosters - which will deepen the fight over short supplies - they also mention needing modified & new vaccines to combat new variants.

cnbc.com/2021/04/15/pfi…

"An annual shot" may be necessary, they say...

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 then we'll need newer shots for newer variants…

Forever?

This is the world they are creating, but ask yourself:

Who benefits here?

Not the millions of us who will get sick and die because of the vaccine scarcity they are enforcing on us, that's for sure.

Not the billions of us who will suffer from continued economic disruption.

Global vaccine scarcity is an artificially created problem.

Governments in the EU, UK, US & others are throttling vaccine production globally by blocking the #TRIPSwaiver - a proposal at the WTO to temporarily waive some intellectual property rules for medical products.

And yes, the rich governments that are fighting over short supplies of vaccines are the same rich governments that are blocking wider vaccine production globally.

And yes, that's a scandal.

Easily the biggest scandal in the world right now.

There are so many sensible voices in the world pushing for the #TRIPSwaiver. They include:

Over 100 governments: reliefweb.int/report/world/o…

Past presidents & prime ministers and Nobel laureates: project-syndicate.org/commentary/pre…

NGOs: peoplesvaccine.org

Also pushing for the #TRIPSwaiver:

Medical experts: thelancet.com/journals/lance…

The head of the World Health Organization: theguardian.com/world/2021/mar…

European lawmakers: hrw.org/news/2021/03/2…

US lawmakers: thehill.com/policy/healthc…

Trade unions: etuc.org/en/document/le…

Against all of us, pharma company shills have a few failed arguments to try to protect their profits.

First, they say new production wouldn't come online instantly with #TRIPwaiver.

Exactly. So, the sooner, the better.

Why waste more time?

https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1382301491789246464

Second, they disingenuously claim that the #TRIPSwaiver would "disincentivize" companies from developing future vaccines.

But their incentive for the current vaccines was the billions we gave them in public money. They could be thus incentivized again.

scientificamerican.com/article/for-bi…

Third, rich governments claim #TRIPSwaiver isn't needed because they're donating or pledging money to the COVAX facility.

But while COVAX may help get 20% of some poorer countries' doses, that's not nearly herd immunity level, which is 70% at least.

Plus, more money doesn't help if there are no doses to buy because of the artificial scarcity created by these same rich governments.

Here's a longer thread on COVAX with more details:

https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1384392852281638912

In short, there is not really a single argument against the #TRIPSwaiver that doesn't more or less boil down to: pharma company profits are more important than ending the global pandemic.

The rich countries' continued blocking of wider vaccine production globally will maintain scarcity & keep us all in a forever pandemic, never catching up to the emerging variants.

3 million of us have already died.

We need a way out of this death spiral.

#TRIPSwaiver now.

#TRIPSwaiver
#PeoplesVaccine

✅ The moral thing to do.

✅ The human-rights-based approach.

And if you still need convincing…

✅ It's in your own self-interest, wherever you are, because economic destruction & new variants can impact us all.

naturemicrobiologycommunity.nature.com/posts/10-reaso…

"...here’s the thing about an inferno: If you hose only one part of it, the rest will keep burning."

- Head of the World Health Organization.

nytimes.com/2021/04/22/opi…

= =

🌍 It's a global pandemic.

🌍 It needs a global solution.

#TRIPSwaiver
#PeoplesVaccine

Your WEEKEND TO-DO LIST,

🇪🇺Europe🇪🇺:

🍺🍷🫖 Relax with a beer, wine or tea.

☀️ Enjoy the warming weather.

✏️ Sign this official EU Citizens' Initiative.

📢 Share it on every channel you have.

🇪🇺 noprofitonpandemic.eu 🇪🇺

“This is the only humane thing in the world to do.”

- Joe Biden

#TRIPSwaiver
#PeoplesVaccine

Read more: nytimes.com/2021/04/23/opi…