Should we start naming corona variants after political leaders who are blocking wider vaccine production, thus prolonging the pandemic & making the emergence of new variants more likely?
- The "Merkel variant"?
- The "von der Leyen variant"?
- The "Johnson variant"?
- The "Merkel variant"?
- The "von der Leyen variant"?
- The "Johnson variant"?
The EU, UK & a few other rich governments have been blocking & delaying wider vaccine production globally by obstructing the #TRIPSwaiver, a proposal to temporarily waive some intellectual property (IP) rules on vaccines & other health products.
reliefweb.int/report/world/e…
reliefweb.int/report/world/e…
These leaders are literally prolonging the global pandemic. And they know full well that’s what they are doing by prioritising pharma companies' profits over human lives.
They should get credit for it, no?
They should get credit for it, no?
When the #TRIPSwaiver was first proposed in October, there were already one million recorded deaths from Covid-19.
Yesterday, we passed the 4-million mark...
And yet, the EU, UK & other rich governments continue to push for a longer pandemic...
france24.com/en/europe/2021…
Yesterday, we passed the 4-million mark...
And yet, the EU, UK & other rich governments continue to push for a longer pandemic...
france24.com/en/europe/2021…
And, of course, 4 million "recorded Covid deaths" is a minimum figure.
The actual number is much higher...
economist.com/briefing/2021/…
The actual number is much higher...
economist.com/briefing/2021/…
By throttling production of vaccines, the EU, UK & others are prolonging the pandemic, meaning:
☠️ even more death;
☠️ even more economic disruption;
☠️ more chances for new variants to emerge that are more deadly, more easily spread and/or resistant to current vaccines.
☠️ even more death;
☠️ even more economic disruption;
☠️ more chances for new variants to emerge that are more deadly, more easily spread and/or resistant to current vaccines.
On the emergence of such new variants...
➡️ medical experts have been warning about it: oxfam.org/en/press-relea…
➡️ pharma companies are looking forward to it: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
➡️ medical experts have been warning about it: oxfam.org/en/press-relea…
➡️ pharma companies are looking forward to it: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
This is the EU- and UK-approved business model for the pharma companies...
It's a merry-go-round of suffering and death for the rest of us.
It's a merry-go-round of suffering and death for the rest of us.
It doesn't have to be this way.
We could have enough vaccine for everyone by expanding production of doses worldwide.
If there were enough production capacity, we could even end the pandemic.
But that's not the EU & UK's priority; pharma company profits are their priority.
We could have enough vaccine for everyone by expanding production of doses worldwide.
If there were enough production capacity, we could even end the pandemic.
But that's not the EU & UK's priority; pharma company profits are their priority.
The good news is that they are losing the argument, particularly in the EU. The European Commission (driven by Germany in this) continues to ignore all the health experts, but some other EU member state governments are waking up...
politico.eu/article/europe…
politico.eu/article/europe…
The bad news is, even though text-based negotiations have finally begun at the World Trade Organization, the EU is still trying to delay and disrupt them.
To defend pharma company profits, they are using a bunch of debunked arguments & outright lies.
To defend pharma company profits, they are using a bunch of debunked arguments & outright lies.
https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1400352366134796295
You'd think that our leaders would want to end the global pandemic...
You'd think that they would do everything they could to end the suffering and death and disruption to normal life...
But you'd be wrong.
For Merkel, von der Leyen, Johnson & others, that is not the policy
You'd think that they would do everything they could to end the suffering and death and disruption to normal life...
But you'd be wrong.
For Merkel, von der Leyen, Johnson & others, that is not the policy
4 million recorded deaths...
Many millions more dead on top of that...
But "corporate profits above all else" remains EU & UK policy.
Sickening.
In every sense of the word.
Many millions more dead on top of that...
But "corporate profits above all else" remains EU & UK policy.
Sickening.
In every sense of the word.
Now, of course, I know we won't ever have anything called a "Merkel variant", "von der Leyen variant" or "Johnson variant"…
But when the next variant comes along, do at least remember these people and how they are deliberately prolonging the pandemic.
But when the next variant comes along, do at least remember these people and how they are deliberately prolonging the pandemic.
For anyone who wants to get into a bit more detail about the above-mentioned "negotiations" at the World Trade Organization - and how the EU & other rich governments are obstructing & delaying wider production of vaccines globally, read this thread:
https://twitter.com/FilesGeneva/status/1412679651202322436
Isn't it just amazing that humanity is so smart that it can develop the tools needed to end a global pandemic - and yet so stupid & selfish that we refuse to use them properly?
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