Rich world hoarding Covid vaccines, says Red Cross

Leaders will debate access to vaccines and other coronavirus concerns at the UN this week

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks at a vial of the AstraZeneca/University of Oxford vaccine against Covid-19. Reuters

Humanitarian leader Francesco Rocca said rich countries were signing deals for vaccines against Covid-19, leaving poor countries unable to get their hands on the life-saving inoculations.

Mr Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said wealthy governments, keen to end deadly outbreaks and unpopular lockdowns at home, were reneging on pledges to help distribute vaccines to poor countries.

His comments come as governments signed deals with Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical companies, while the UN gave a warning that its Covax initiative for vaccinating the world’s poorest people remains badly underfunded.

“I have watched with concern in recent weeks as the imminent arrival of a possible vaccine has, at least in some countries, washed away the commitments that were made over the summer to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccines,” Mr Rocca said.

The pandemic has killed about 1.5 million people globally and infected more than 63.5 million.

It wiped out hundreds of millions of jobs, plunged millions into extreme poverty and pushed the world economy into recession.

The US, Britain, France, Germany and other rich countries have directly negotiated deals with pharmaceutical companies, meaning that most of the world’s vaccine supply next year is already reserved.

“If a few wealthy nations insist on a vaccine nationalism approach then many other countries, maybe even most other countries, will not be able to access them because of exclusive deals between wealthy countries and pharmaceutical companies and the inevitable lag in manufacturing enough doses,” Mr Rocca said.

He said people in rich and poor countries were objecting to face masks and vaccines in a "parallel pandemic of distrust" fuelled by fake news reports, which will make it more difficult to wipe out the pathogen.

World leaders will discuss access to vaccines, misinformation and other issues at a two-day UN debate on the pandemic starting on Thursday, featuring leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

At a meeting of big economies in Saudi Arabia this month, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for $28 billion in extra money for the procurement, manufacture and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines globally, including $4bn to be available immediately.

Speaking at another online UN event on Monday, Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize after being kidnapped and held by ISIS extremists for months, gave a warning that Covid-19 left more women vulnerable to sex traffickers.

Government lockdowns and travel restrictions to halt the spread of the virus have pushed traffickers deeper underground and meant more women were unable to flee dangerous homes and abusive relationships, Ms Murad said.

“Rather than reducing human trafficking and gender-based violence, the pandemic has increased the risk of exploitation and brutality against those most vulnerable," she said.