Charities warn of global rich-poor divide over jab

An umbrella group of major international charities, such as Oxfam, has warned the COVID-19 vaccine initiative risks increasing the divide between rich and poor nations.

According to the People's Vaccine Alliance, developing countries have been left behind in the stampede for treatment, while rich countries have bought three times the amount needed for their populations. More than half of orders for the most promising vaccines have come from countries with 14 percent of the world's population.

"No one should be blocked from getting a life-saving vaccine because of the country they live in or the amount of money in their pocket," said Oxfam's health policy manager Anna Marriott.

"But unless something changes dramatically, billions of people around the world will not receive a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 for years to come."

The Alliance has called on pharma companies to share intellectual property and technology with the World Health Organization, or WHO, for the greatest benefit of humanity.

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom became the first country to roll out the vaccine developed by German company Pfizer and BioNTech.

Almost all available doses of this vaccine, and every one from the United States-based Moderna company, have been bought up by richer nations, and the Alliance said in the case of Canada, if all the leading vaccine candidates were successful, it has bought enough to treat its population five-times over.

The Alliance identified the 67 countries it says are most at risk of being shut out of the process altogether, where it is reported that only one in 10 people could end up being vaccinated, and five of them－Ukraine, Kenya, Pakistan, Myanmar and Nigeria－have, between them, reported 1.5 million cases of novel coronavirus.

In April, an organization called COVAX was launched by the WHO, European Commission and France, bringing together political and industry leaders and philanthropists to ensure fair and global access to vaccines as they become available. So far, 700 million doses have been secured for the 92 countries that have signed up.

Meanwhile, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that the after-effects of the pandemic in the UK are likely to double rates of destitution, with 2 million families and 1 million children facing struggles to feed themselves properly and stay warm.

The Foundation warned of "increasing, intensifying" levels of extreme poverty, with areas in the Northeast and Northwest of England, and regions of inner London, most severely affected.

"Right now, our (social security) system is not doing enough to protect people from destitution," said the foundation director Helen Barnard.

"It is appalling that so many people are going through this distressing and degrading experience, and we should not tolerate it."