Crumbs - The G7 Covid Vaccine Promise Is The Farce Of The Year

                                          The G7 Covid Vaccine Promise Is The Farce Of The Year 

By Marc Vandepitte: Marc Vandepitte, an indefatigable reader, presents in this article several salient facts, various figures and quotes from around the world that have barely attracted the attention of the other media, but which certainly need to be mentioned to understand the chaotic real world.

 Crumbs

 The donation of a billion vaccines may seem like a great gesture, but did you know that Cuba will have produced 100 million doses on its own by the end of this year? Most of them will be exported to the countries that need them. To put in context the comparison of both figures, the G7 GDP is 340 times that of Cuba, a country that also suffers a very harsh economic blockade by the United States.

                                      Clinical trials of the Cuban vaccine candidate culminated                              

 The vague rhetoric of Biden and the other G7 leaders hides the real motivation for their promise. The G7 leaders are not concerned about the fate of poor countries. If that were the case, they would not have captured most of the vaccines available last year at the expense of the rest of the world.

 Did you know that the 10 richest countries own about 80 percent of all covid vaccines and that only 0.3 percent of vaccines currently reach low-income countries? Did you know that the United States, where 4 percent of the planet's population lives, has purchased more than 1 billion vaccines? That amount is enough to vaccinate your population two or three times.

 Because of this outrageous vaccine hoarding, rich countries as a whole currently have a surplus of 2.5 billion vaccines. So now they are going to give some to the poorest countries. There is a fear that they are unwanted or substandard vaccines. Rich countries have emptied the buffet and leave the remains for poor countries. It is not exactly a show of generosity. 

 The truth is that they are crumbs. The goal of the World Health Organization is to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the world's population within one year. To achieve this, 11,000 million vaccines would be needed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that if the population of developing countries is not vaccinated soon, the virus could continue to mutate and create resistance to new vaccines. In relation to the G7 plan, he declared: “We need more than that […] We need a global vaccination plan, we need to act with logic, with a sense of urgency and with the priorities of a war economy, and we are still far from to get it".

 To be able to vaccinate people in poor countries quickly enough, we need a mere $ 38 billion this year. But that has not even been achieved. So far only half of that amount has been donated. We are talking about only 0.3 percent of the 5.6 trillion dollars that rich countries have injected into their economies in response to COVID. The real reasons 

So the real reasons to donate 1 billion vaccines are not charitable or the result of concern for the poor of the planet, but must be sought elsewhere. 

First of all, it's a good way to sweep the fundamental debate, that of patents, under the rug. The pharmaceutical giants have nothing to worry about, they can continue to make money undisturbed.

 A second reason is geopolitical in nature. The West watches with dismay as China is the great winner in the distribution of vaccines. Did you know that at least 70 countries or regions have approved Chinese vaccines or have already signed agreements to receive them? "China is going to be a critical long-term partner," said Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness, one of the groups leading the vaccine distribution program in developing countries of the UN.

 And the same reason applies to Russia. More than 30 countries have decided to buy or manufacture the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V. The bombastic gesture of the G7 should serve to counter this "vaccination diplomacy."

 Be that as it may, Gordon Brown, the former prime minister of Great Britain, the host country of the G7 meeting, describes the plan as "a catastrophic failure." "I am afraid they have failed the first test [...] because it is more like passing the basket of alms than a comprehensive global vaccination plan." 

Taking all of this into account, the G7 leaders' solemn vaccination pledge promises to be the farce of the year.

 Source (original in Dutch): https://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2021/06/14/wist-je-dat-de-vaccinbelofte-van-de-g7-de-farce-van-het-jaar -is /