Some small, pro-death rallies took place in a few EU member states at the weekend: euobserver.com/tickers/154100

But the biggest support for the deadly virus continues to come from the EU's policy of blocking wider vaccine production globally: politico.eu/article/vaccin…
Yes, the EU & its member states are supporting widespread vaccination at home but blocking it globally.

Billions of people around the world have not had even one shot yet, in large part because of the global vaccine shortage the EU enforces at the World Trade Organization.
For over 15 months, the EU has been blocking wider vaccine production globally by obstructing the #TRIPSwaiver, a proposal at the WTO to temporarily waive some intellectual property rules on vaccines & other health products.
Over 100 governments back the waiver: reliefweb.int/report/world/o…

The vast majority of expert opinion - scientists, health professional, etc - supports the waiver: nature.com/articles/d4158…

The EU refuses to listen to them.
Everyone knows that blocking vaccine production globally means prolonging the pandemic, so:

☠️ more death;

☠️ more suffering;

☠️ more time for new variants to emerge.

And "everybody" includes EU policy makers, of course. They know the consequences of their policy.
But the EU has been led in this by Germany, where a few areas are benefitting from the vaccine shortage that the EU is enforcing.

“our football pitches will remain in such a state that every player can play a clean pass” - Mainz mayor, Michael Ebling.

In short, the EU is happy to let global suffering continue for the benefit of pharma monopolies and better football passes on a few sports fields in Germany.
But of course, it's not just that the EU is putting profits over people to benefit the pharma monopolies & add a bit of tax revenue to a few parts of Germany.

It's also ideological hard-headedness: we must support these trade rules because we always support these trade rules.
They forget - or, more likely, they want you to forget - that the trade rules themselves allow for such exceptions, and such exceptions have been made for pharma products in the past.

msfaccess.org/india-and-sout…
In these threads, I sometimes get accused of pushing some kind of radical agenda - as if using rules that exist at the WTO (and have been used before) to create a temporary waiver on a few health products to help end a global pandemic is from Das Kapital or something. 🙄
(And at the same time, I get accused by other sides of not being radical enough.)
But there's nothing extreme about this. A temporary patent waiver on a few health products to help end a global pandemic is simply smart policy.

What is extreme - and awful policy - is blocking wider vaccine production during a global pandemic, like the EU has been doing.
Leaders in the EU and UK now talk about "living with Covid" and "managing it". This is what they mean...
EU officials and leaders come out with the most absurd, easily refutable lies & disinformation to try to defend their deadly policy.


These lies have been going on for months...

And months...
They don't want you to know that loads of public money was poured into these vaccines, because then you would realise that you are not getting value for your money:
And they definitely don't want you to know that there are over 100 qualified manufacturers out there that could be making mRNA vaccines - if they were allowed to - to help deal with the global vaccine shortage.
hrw.org/news/2021/12/1…
The fact that no one could think of one piece of evidence to counter this tweet says a lot: It seems the EU doesn't want to end the pandemic; they want to "manage it" for profits in Europe.

At this point, the only allies the virus has left are the EU, UK, Switzerland and those anti-vaxer protesters in the streets.

And those governments are doing far more damage with their deadly policy than those protesters are doing with their stupid slogans.
Enough is enough. The EU is outnumbered by governments that actually want to fight the virus rather than profit from it.

We need the #TRIPSwaiver for a #PeoplesVaccine.

🇪🇺 EU citizens should sign this online initiative: bit.ly/3tFgvDV
Also, please follow & support the organisations involved in the @peoplesvaccine Alliance, listed here:

twitter.com/i/lists/147107…
The World Health Organization has called on governments to put human rights at the heart of their pandemic response, including by ensuring universal access to vaccines, therapeutics & health technologies.

The EU has been rejecting the idea for 15 months: bit.ly/30edP7h
The @EU_Commission's "white saviour trope" propaganda continued at the weekend...

381 million (if true) may sound like a lot, but global need is for BILLIONS of doses: BILLIONS of people have not had even 1 jab yet.

We need wider vaccine production, but the EU is blocking it.

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More from @astroehlein

Jan 17,
My friend asked me for 10 euros, saying it was a matter of life & death...

🧵 1/
I know his situation. He's not exaggerating. It really is a matter of life & death.

2/
So, I gave him 38 cents.

3/
Read 6 tweets
Jan 15,
But WHY would the EU, led by Germany in this, continue to block wider vaccine production globally. During a global pandemic! That’s just crazy, isn’t it?

For 99.9% of humanity, yes.

For a few selected parts of Germany however…

theguardian.com/world/2021/dec… Image
It’s very nice that the city of Mainz is able to balance its books. Not sure it’s worth the countless deaths that will result from the Germany/EU policy of blocking wider vaccine production globally to protect pharma monopoly profits. But, yeah, Mainz politicians are happy. 👍
For two years, the leaders of rich governments have been pretending they can fight a global pandemic by thinking locally & nationally. This is just one, particularly egregious, example.
Read 15 tweets
Jan 11,
EU Commissioner @ThierryBreton says we need factories before we can discuss the #TRIPSwaiver & tech transfers:
politico.eu/newsletter/bru…

But the factories already exist: hrw.org/news/2021/12/1…

Does he not know that? Or was he trying to mislead @POLITICOEurope?
I think this would be a useful thread to share with @ThierryBreton...

For 15 months, the EU has been lying & spreading disinformation about the #TRIPSwaiver, which the EU is obstructing at the WTO, because they want to block wider vaccine production in order to boost pharma monopoly profits.

Read 4 tweets
Jan 10,
We have all had to change our habits in the pandemic.

😷 We put on masks in enclosed spaces like shops and public transport to help avoid spreading the virus.

But one group of people has refused to change their habits…
We have all had to change our habits in the pandemic.

🧪 We get tested before and after travel, when we have symptoms, and when we’re around people who have it.

But one group of people has refused to change their habits…
We have all had to change our ways in the pandemic.

💉 We get vaccines and boosters to do our part in keeping ourselves, our families, our friends & others safe.

But one group of people has refused to change their ways…
Read 18 tweets
Jan 9,
If anyone has any evidence that the EU (or UK) is taking actions aimed at ENDING the global pandemic rather than prolonging it for the profit of pharma monopolies, please let me know. I've seen none.

(And if you cite paltry numbers of donated doses, you only embarrass yourself)
I’ll wait…
Still waiting…
Read 4 tweets
Jan 7,
This is a map.

It looks like a simple world map with some data points on it.

But it's really a map showing an escape route.

➡️ A way out of the pandemic...

hrw.org/news/2021/12/1…
To understand how to use this escape route, you first have to understand the trap we're in.

The core of it is this: we've been facing a global pandemic, but some rich governments have been trying to treat it like a national or regional problem.
Or, worse, those rich governments have been treating the pandemic as an opportunity for a few companies in their countries to make big profits.

They've been protecting & defending those companies from the start, prioritising their demands over the needs of humanity as a whole.
Read 23 tweets

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