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Australian government urged to donate 20 million more vaccines to help low-income countries fight Covid-19, as new report warns pandemic ‘won’t end for anyone until it ends for everyone “.
With New South Wales reopening on Monday, a report backed by a coalition of aid, health, business and civil society groups says Australia must “not turn a blind eye to the impacts pandemic in other parts of the world ”.
Reverend Tim Costello, of the End Covid For All campaign group, cited not only the moral imperative to help the rest of the world, but also the risk that more variants will emerge in places where vaccination rates have been in decline. dragged.
“The Delta strain, and the havoc it has wreaked across Australia, shows that we cannot allow Covid to run rampant and mutate overseas,” Costello said.
“The last thing we want on Freedom Day in NSW is the prospect of more deaths and lockdowns because we haven’t done all we can to vaccinate the world. “
The report, released on Monday, says more than 19 low-income countries have vaccination rates so low that, at current rates, they would not vaccinate 70% of their population before 2030.
He calls on Australia to pledge to share an additional 20 million vaccines through the Covax facility, while investing an additional $ 250 million in the same initiative.
The report suggests Australia should invest to become “a vaccine factory for the region” and develop plans to respond to outbreaks in the Indo-Pacific.
The report calls on the Australian government to spend $ 50 million to tackle vaccine reluctance in South East Asia and the Pacific “through strengthened partnerships with trusted community-led organizations.”
The report was co-authored by researchers, analysts and leaders from 11 organizations, including the Burnet Institute, Micah Australia, Australian Global Health Alliance, Médecins Sans Frontières Australia, Unicef Australia and World Vision Australia.
“The emergence of the Delta variant shows that Australia cannot condone the impacts of the pandemic in other parts of the world,” says the report, titled A Hope Strike – The Role of Australia in the world vaccination.
“Firstly, because it is morally reprehensible. But also because, sooner or later, the consequences will be felt here. That is why we must play a leading role in the aggressive response to this pandemic on a global scale. “
On Saturday, NSW Health Director Dr Kerry Chant revealed that state health officials had “detected a genome of the Delta strain that is different from what was previously transmitted in our community.”
Chant said NSW Health had “linked this to someone who came back from overseas” – but she wanted to reassure people that there was no sign it was more communicable or dangerous.
Monday’s “Hope Bounce” report notes that new mutations will also increase demand for vaccine boosters, especially in high-income countries like Australia.
“However, ensuring that vaccine distribution is fair is essential to ending Covid-19 for all,” the report said.
“While third injections for the elderly and vulnerable in wealthy countries may be part of an effective immunization program, valuable manufacturing capacity should not be a priority for population-wide booster vaccinations so that much of the world is not on track to meet the 2022 target.
“Global immunization coverage with initial doses should be a prerequisite for the manufacture and distribution of additional booster doses.
Many countries – including the UK, US and Israel – have started offering booster shots of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In Australia, severely immunocompromised people will be able to receive COVID-19 vaccine boosters starting Monday, after the vaccine regulator approved the vaccine for the vulnerable part of the community.
The Australian government expects approximately 500,000 Australians to be eligible for the initial rollout of booster injections, which includes people over the age of 12 who suffer from conditions that severely weaken their immune defenses, as well as patients receiving cancer treatment and other therapies.
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Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government expects to receive advice from Australia’s Immunization Technical Advisory Group on broader booster programs “before the end of October”.
The need for greater vaccine distribution was one of the items on the agenda for the Quad’s first face-to-face meeting in Washington at the end of last month. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has recognized the need to act as this will increasingly become a pandemic of the underprivileged.
Morrison also spoke at a summit convened by US President Joe Biden and announced that Australia would “share [with the Indo-Pacific region] 20 million additional doses and purchase up to 20 million additional doses beyond ”by the end of 2022.
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