Religious leaders condemn Covid vaccine nationalism

Call to protect the world issued by scores of religious figures including Islamic leaders

A patient gets a vaccine at a mosque in Bradford, northern England. Reuters

Nearly 150 religious leaders, including imams in the UK and Sweden, joined a cross-faith campaign urging an end to vaccine nationalism and a collective effort to immunise the world against Covid-19.

Islamic leaders, Christian clergy and Jewish rabbis were among those to say that people in much of the world may not be vaccinated until 2024 if the balance with wealthy countries was not evened out.

The signatories included Ibrahim Mogra, an imam who works at the Canary Wharf Multifaith Chaplaincy in London, and Zahid Bukhari, the executive director of the US-based Centre for Islam and Public Policy.

Leading Islamic figures in Sweden endorsed the letter, including Mohamed Temsamani, the chairman of the United Islamic Associations of Sweden, and Ahmed Ghanem, the imam of Gothenburg Mosque.

Eminent Christian supporters of the campaign included Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, and Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town.

The 145 signatories said their work as religious leaders exposed them to the suffering of people affected by Covid-19.

“The access of people to lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines cannot be dependent on people’s wealth, status or nationality,” they said.

“We cannot abdicate our responsibilities to our sisters and brothers by imagining that the market can be left to resolve the crisis or pretend to ourselves that we have no obligation to others in our shared humanity.

“Every person is precious. We have a moral obligation to reach everyone, in every country.”

The faith leaders said “it pains us greatly that access to the vaccines is so inequitable”.

“We call on all leaders to reject vaccine nationalism and embrace a commitment to global vaccine equity,” they said.

“As religious leaders, we join our voices to the call for vaccines that are made available to all people as a global common good – a people’s vaccine. This is the only way to end the pandemic.”

While some countries, such as the UK, have vaccinated more than half of their population, others have barely started immunisation.

In India, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines, less than 10 per cent of the population has had a first dose – leaving most of the country vulnerable to a catastrophic second wave of Covid-19.

Workers carry biodegradable cardboard beds at a makeshift ward set up at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in south Delhi. Bloomberg

Health workers turn away an ambulance at the main entrance of Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital in India's capital New Delhi. Bloomberg

Harsh Vardhan, India's health minister, inspects a Covid-19 centre in the capital city of New Delhi. India is now the global coronavirus hotspot, setting daily new records for the world's highest number of cases. Bloomberg

People carry oxygen cylinders after refilling them at a factory amid a surge in coronavirus cases in India's western city of Ahmedabad. Reuters

Workers prepare beds at a makeshift Covid-19 ward set up at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in south Delhi. Bloomberg

A man suffering from shortness of breath receives free oxygen inside his car at a gurudwara, Sikh temple, amid the spread of coronavirus, in northern Indian city of Ghaziabad. Reuters

A board indicates unavailability of beds at Lok Nayak Jaiprakash Hospital in India's capital New Delhi. Bloomberg

Relatives offer prayers before they bury the body of a Covid-19 victim in Guwahati, the capital of north-east Indian state Assam. AP Photo

A sign indicates unavailability of oxygen at the Covid-19 care centre set up at the Commonwealth Games Village Sports Complex in New Delhi. Bloomberg

A patient wearing an oxygen mask looks on as his wife holds a battery-operated fan as they wait inside an auto-rickshaw to enter a Covid-19 hospital, in western Indian city of Ahmedabad. Reuters

A man rides a bicycle through a deserted market area in the northern Indian city of Amritsar amid the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. AFP

Health workers outside a Covid-19 ward set up at the Commonwealth Games Village Sports Complex in New Delhi. Bloomberg

Patients inside a Covid-19 ward set up at the Commonwealth Games Village Sports Complex in New Delhi. Bloomberg

The scramble for supplies also led to export controls in the EU, while the US is only now preparing to start sending vaccines abroad.

The EU claims to be the leading exporter of vaccines around the world, but many of these go to the UK, Canada and other rich countries.

In addition, the global Covax scheme to distribute doses to developing countries is expected to cover no more than 20 per cent to 30 per cent of their populations.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg upbraided rich countries last week at a WHO conference where she said her foundation donated $120,000 to help end vaccine inequality.

She accused the developed world of failing a “moral test” to ensure global access to vaccines.

“We talked ... about showing solidarity, and yet vaccine nationalism is what's running the vaccine distribution,” she said.

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