Thread by @astroehlein

Two things EVERYONE should do:

1⃣ Get vaccinated if you can.

2⃣ Ask why most people cannot.

Our current global vaccine shortage is not "natural" or "inevitable".

It is the result of a POLICY DECISION by leaders in some rich countries - the EU, UK, Norway, Switzerland & others - to allow pharma monopolies to control the production levels of vaccines.

Specifically, the EU, UK & others have a policy of blocking wider vaccine production globally by obstructing the #TRIPSwaiver, a proposal at the World Trade Organization to temporarily waive some intellectual property rules on vaccines & other health products.

The EU (led by Germany in this) has produced misinformation & outright lies to defend their deadly policy.

These arguments have been comprehensively debunked:

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

Again & again:

https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1385483442905919489

For a long time:

https://twitter.com/MSF_access/status/1308334943202836480

EU leaders are not only lying to EU citizens generally, they are apparently lying to member state governments, as well:

https://twitter.com/DimitriEynikel/status/1416071647942123526

From the beginning, the EU, UK & others have been ignoring the request of the majority of countries in the world, as well as the advice of public health professionals and medical experts.

The #TRIPSwaiver is supported by:

The majority of governments: reliefweb.int/report/world/o…

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

NGO experts calling for a #PeoplesVaccine: peoplesvaccine.org

The #TRIPSwaiver is also supported by:

Medical experts: thelancet.com/journals/lance…

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

Hundreds of European lawmakers: hrw.org/news/2021/04/2…

Also:

https://twitter.com/samiraraf/status/1388169919603302407

US lawmakers: thehill.com/policy/healthc…

But EU leaders pretend they know better than all these global voices & all these health experts.

The European Commission is so arrogant that it refuses to even listen to them, meeting almost exclusively with the pharma companies & their lobbyists.
corporateeurope.org/en/2021/05/com…

It's hard to understand the mentality of political leaders who look at a global pandemic in which millions are dying and say:

"How can we help our friends make money from this?"

Yet that's the leaders we have in the EU, UK & a few other places right now.

Even the stark reality that their profits-first approach is obviously failing won't shift them from their ideology of greed.

💥 Only 12% of the world is vaccinated.

💥 At this rate, it will take years - decades, in fact - to reach everyone.

oxfam.org/en/press-relea…

EU leaders try to convince citizens that the slow pace of global vaccinations doesn't matter - that only vaccinations at home matter - as if humanity is not connected.

It's a deadly lie.

⚠️ Grotesquely unfair to the global south.

⚠️ Self-destructive for the global north.

The unfairness of it is obvious:

➡️ 85% of shots that have gone into arms worldwide have been administered in high- and upper-middle-income countries.

➡️ 0.3% of doses have been administered in low-income countries.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

The self-destructive nature of EU & UK policy is also obvious.

By helping pharma companies limit vaccine production, our leaders are giving the virus more time to produce new variants that could be:

☠️ More deadly.

☠️ More contagious.

☠️ Resistant to current vaccines.

The longer the pandemic, the more chance for the emergence of new variants...

Public health experts have been warning about it: oxfam.org/en/press-relea…

Pharmaceutical companies are "betting" on it: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Pharma companies make no secret of the likely need for 3rd shot boosters and new recipes to address new variants: cnbc.com/2021/04/15/pfi…

As long as pharma monopolies control the level of vaccine production, they will do so in their own interest.

Businesses aim to maximize profit, not production, so global vaccine scarcity will continue.

And since vaccine scarcity prolongs the pandemic, making the emergence of new variants more likely, this is where we're currently headed:

💰 Serial profits for the pharma monopolies.

💀 Endless pandemic for humanity.

Again, this throttling of vaccine production depends on political protection by the EU, UK & others at the World Trade Organization.

If rich country governments hadn't been blocking the #TRIPSwaiver there, we'd be seeing more vaccine production capacity being brought online.

If you're thinking that this profits-over-humanity approach by European powers sounds a bit a neocolonialist, you're not alone.

There's a thread for that:

https://twitter.com/astroehlein/status/1412277419147411460

Global vaccine production is being deliberately throttled by the EU, UK & others.

Leaders tell citizens this is fine.

Don't worry about the rest of humanity.

Just enjoy the summer…

☠️ Madness.

☠️ Inhumane, self-destructive madness.

So, yes:

1⃣ Get vaccinated if you can.

AND:

2⃣ Ask why most people cannot.

Because this scandal affects everyone. Including you: your health, your family's health.

🌐 The global pandemic will not end until our leaders start prioritising humanity over corporate profits.