No one is safe until everyone is safe: SDLP Youth calls for a global COVID-19 vaccine

“Ask the rich countries: Where are Africa’s vaccines? Where are the vaccines for the low- and middle-income countries of the world?” Dr. Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance.

SDLP Youth today expresses its full support for the call to ensure full and equal access to existing COVID-19 vaccines on an international scale, and stands in support of our YES colleagues JUSOS Germany as they prepare to bring a resolution on this crucial issue before the forthcoming YES Congress. With social justice, rights and equality at the core of our identity, we are proud to add our voice and support to this campaign, and the campaigns of our colleagues Socialist Youth Austria and Young Socialists Belgium.

SDLP Youth welcomed the successful development of vaccinations against the COVID-19 virus, and the subsequent rollout of the vaccinations, both nationally and internationally. It represented an important milestone in tackling the pandemic which has had such a devastating personal toll on communities and families across the world, and has instigated great financial hardship and socio-economic pressure upon workers and working class communities. The introduction of vaccinations marked a moment of change, of hope and celebration, that soon yet we could welcome a return to some type of normal. The dedication and commitment of healthcare professionals as they endured great pressure and tough working conditions to save lives was truly recognised at this juncture; the production of vaccines suggested that the burden upon such incredible professionals may in time be lifted.

Yet the unequal balance of power and unequal distribution of wealth quickly became evident following the approval of the different vaccinations by regulatory agencies around the world. Upon confirmation that the vaccines were safe to be used, wealthy nations commenced an exercise in displaying their wealth and associated power, to the detriment of the Global South.

The supply of vaccines is short of demand and the limited amount that is available has from the beginning been bought predominantly by wealthy nations. In addition, the deal-by-deal approaches operated by companies have resulted in an unfair and unjust situation whereby poorer nations have had to pay more for the same vaccine from the same pharmaceutical company in marked contrast to wealthier nations. 

We know the unequal access to vaccines, and the corresponding delay in vaccinating citizens continues. Currently, only 3.6 per cent of people in Africa have been fully inoculated after wealthier nations provided a small fraction of the vaccines they had pledged to Covax. Covax has since reduced its forecast for the number of vaccines it would have at its disposal for this year. Countries across Africa have been provided with a mere 50 per cent of the vaccine doses they require in order to meet the global target of fully vaccinating 40 per cent of their citizens by the end of 2021. According to statistics held by the World Health Organisation, Africa - home to about 17 per cent of the world’s population - accounts for only 2 per cent of the nearly six billion doses administered so far.

In addition, 80 per cent of the vaccines which have been administered internationally have been provided in high, and upper middle income countries - whilst only 0.4 per cent of vaccines have been administered in lower income countries, a grave injustice which cannot be ignored.

As internationalists and socialists, SDLP Youth stands firmly against vaccine inequality and capitalist barriers to ensuring the protection of health on a global scale. SDLP Youth therefore stands in support with all calls for true global access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, especially in the form of a “global vaccine”.  A global vaccine can be readily achieved through the suspension of intellectual property rights; and/or the voluntary sharing of data, technology, and intellectual property.

We roundly condemn the opposition to the suspension of intellectual property rights to achieve the development of a global vaccine, most notably by the United States and Europe, with both having actively blocked the proposal in the WTO earlier this year. Pledges to increase the donation of vaccines, whether from EU member states, the EU as a collective, the USA or the UK are insufficient and merely affirm the unequal distribution of power and vaccine access, enabling this system to continue when it should cease.

We therefore call upon the UK Government and Irish Government to commit to working to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments for all. 

No one is safe until everyone, everywhere, is safe. Corporate wealth cannot be prioritised above global health. It is time for the patents to be lifted, and for the rollout of a global vaccine.