Hefty Vaccine Hoarding Sparks Global Ire
At the UN General Assembly this week, a chorus of developing‑country leaders slammed the world’s wealthiest nations for piling up COVID‑19 shots while poorer nations struggled to get their first. The result? A tinderbox of new variants that could flash like a bad rash in already hot corners of the globe.
The “Man‑Made Drought” of Shots
Philippines: President Rodrigo Duterte called the vaccine situation a “man‑made drought” for the less‑affluent, warning that rich countries were hoarding life‑saving doses while the world’s poor wait on the sidelines. He slammed the tactic as “shocking beyond belief” and demanded global solidarity.
Peru: The country’s leaders blamed a failed international effort, arguing that the world’s patience was at a breaking point.
Ghana: President Nana Akufo‑Addo declared that the “vaccine nationalism” was scorning 900 million Africans still in limbo, attempting to hit that 70 percent herd‑immunity threshold globaly.
UN Chief’s “Obscenity” Comment
The UN head of the Agency said it was “an obscenity” that the unequal distribution could give rise to new, gravest variants.
Statistics That Make You Go “Whew”
- ~35 % of all people who got at least one dose live in high‑income countries.
- ~28 % of vaccine‑recipients hail from Europe and North America.
- Paters and mothers both are watching the numbers wail: Haiti & DRC < 1 % of their populations fully vaccinated.
- Some nations already have 6‑7 times the population in vaccine stockpile—ready to roll out third boosters, while others have not managed a single dose.
Colombia’s Call for Fairness
President Ivan Duque nailed the point: if inequitable delivery persists, humanity could be “exposed to new variants attacking us with greater ferocity.” He urged global unity and a ban on hoarding that would otherwise ruin the collective immunity plan.
Wrap‑Up: A Future Only If We’re All in It
There’s a clear message from the world’s poorest neighborhoods—vaccine hoarding is no longer a luxury that keeps the rich busy. It’s a recipe for disaster that could rain more deadly drops on the planet. The call is simple: either hand over the life‑saving loot or risk a new wave of ferocious COVID‑19 variants that the whole world will have to bathe in.
Biden ups vaccine donations
Joe Biden’s Big Boost: 500 Million More Vaccine Doses to the World
In a bold move, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. will spearhead the purchase of 500 million additional COVID‑19 vaccine doses to hand out to nations in need. This brings the total of U.S. donations to over 1.1 billion doses, underscoring the growing global demand for shared relief.
“All‑Hands on Deck” Crisis
Biden kicked off a virtual summit at the General Assembly, emphasizing the shared urgency. “This is an all‑hands on deck crisis,” he declared, underscoring that every player on the globe needs to collaborate now more than ever.
China’s Ambitious Plan
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a confident pledge at the UN, promising to deliver 2 billion vaccine doses to countries worldwide by year’s end.
ONE Campaign: “We Need More Help!”
- ONE Campaign, a nonprofit championing health and poverty alleviation, warns the new U.S. commitment is simply not enough.
- They call on other affluent nations to step up – otherwise, more than 2.3 billion people worldwide might still go unvaccinated by September next year.
- Tom Hart, ONE’s acting CEO, highlighted that we’ve moved beyond mere urgency: “We must agree on a global strategy to vaccinate 70 % of the planet.”
Peruvian President Hopes for a Global Pact
In a heartfelt address, Peru’s newly elected leftist president Pedro Castillo urged world leaders and vaccine patent holders to “forge an international agreement” guaranteeing universal vaccine access.
“We’ve learned how the international community flounders when unity is rushed,” Castillo said. Peru, sorely affected by COVID, has less than 30 % of its population fully vaccinated, the highest mortality rate worldwide.
Iran Faces the Sanctions Snarl
With the new leadership under Ebrahim Raisi, Iran is tackling yet another barrier – U.S. sanctions that hinder vaccine distribution.
- “Sanctions on medicine during the pandemic are crimes against humanity,” Raisi gushed.
- Even though food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods are exempt from the 2018 re‑imposed sanctions, the shadow of restrictions deters foreign banks from handling Iranian transactions.
In short, the world stands at a crossroads. The U.S. is stepping up, but the scoreboard demands an even more united effort to keep the pandemic from catching us off guard again.
