Thread by @astroehlein

The world in two graphs...

Good to see vaccinations in Europe finally on track: politico.eu/article/corona…

But worldwide, vaccinations are moving far too slowly: ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-…

➡️ 85% of shots administered worldwide have been in high- & upper-middle-income countries.

➡️ 0.3% of doses have been administered in low-income countries.

If you care about #VaccineEquity - and human decency generally - you know this is an outrage.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

But even if you don't - even if you think, I'm vaccinated, and if poor countries have to wait a few years, oh well…

⚠️ Think again.

Slow vaccination rollout globally means more time for new variants to emerge that are resistant to current vaccines.
oxfam.org/en/press-relea…

One reason why global vaccination rollout has been slow is the scarcity of vaccines. Not enough doses are being produced.

Currently, the level of production is controlled by a few big pharma companies. They set production levels in their own best interest: to maximise profits.

That rich governments have allowed them to do this for months - while simultaneously hogging all the scarce doses produced - is the greatest scandal of our times.

The global pandemic has been:

➡️ great for the pharma companies.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

➡️ terrible for the rest of us.
economist.com/briefing/2021/…

And rich governments sided with the former over the latter for months: hrw.org/news/2021/03/0…

Now, about that, "Big Potential Ahead" part in the headline…

Yes, that is the plan. The companies make no secret that they see the global pandemic as a LONG-TERM business opportunity.

They don't want it to help end it; they want to cash in on it, with every new variant.

This is the business model...

We are unlikely to ever get off that merry-go-round of death until we can produce enough vaccines for everyone fast enough.

Yet, rich governments have for months been abetting this business model by blocking wider vaccine production globally through obstructing the #TRIPSwaiver, a proposal to temporarily waive some intellectual property (IP) rules on vaccines & other health products.

But things are changing, if slowly...

The US switched sides in early May: nature.com/articles/d4158…

Pharma companies, seeing a threat to their business model of endless variants, hit back hard: cnbc.com/2021/06/01/big…

Sadly, however, the EU backed big pharma over Biden.

In an ugly rebuke to its US ally - not to mention the majority of countries in the world, medical experts & public health professionals - the EU stuck to its profits-first approach, rolling out a tired list of debunked arguments & lies to defend itself.

https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1400352366134796295

But the EU Commission (which has been driven in this by Germany chiefly) faces resistance...

France & Poland openly support patent waivers to increase vaccine production globally, as do top ministers in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands & Spain, as well as the EU Parliament.

The European Commission has had to back down and allow text-based negotiation on patent waivers to proceed the the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

Unfortunately, they are still fighting tooth-and-nail to complicate & delay those negotiations.
politico.eu/article/europe…

It's hard to imagine how selfish and inhumane the EU has been on this - and how the Commission continues to be so.

They are literally still trying to block wider vaccine production globally…

While everyone knows there aren't enough vaccines…

While millions are dying…

If global vaccine rollout was everywhere like it is in the EU & UK right now, that would be good.

But it's not.

And part of the reason it's not is that the EU & UK are actively preventing it.

As a matter of policy.

Sickening.

Literally.

Both the EU & UK should reverse their position completely and energetically support wider vaccine production globally.

🌐 It is a global pandemic. It needs global solutions.

🌐 No one is safe until everyone is safe.