PM Reiterates Plea for A COVID-19 Vaccine For All
Where does this leave us? With a lot of uncertainty. But it is very important that our leaders continue to highlight the plight of small states.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama used his address at the United Nations high level meeting to remind the world that any COVID-19 vaccine was still only guaranteed to those who can afford it.
This is a cause Fiji has been fighting for, not only for its citizens but also on behalf of small states as well.
There has still not been any guarantee that a COVID-19 vaccine would be made available to countries who are classified as least developed or developing.
And, this is a big worry.
Canberra has already informed Suva that they would back Suva’s fight for vaccine but as stated earlier, Fiji is fighting on behalf of those countries which have been left on the periphery. Attorney-General Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum in his discussions with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund has also stressed that the availability of any vaccine must be treated as a public good.
He said this is to ensure that small and developing countries have equal access to any COVID-19 vaccine.
Another interesting point Mr Bainimarama raised was that five years post-Paris, global temperature rise is still projected to rocket past the two, three, or even fourdegree mark, our ocean ecosystems are acidifying, and a sixth mass extinction event is already underway. Where does this leave us? With a lot of uncertainty. But it is very important that our leaders continue to highlight the plight of small states.
Fiji has done a great deal in bringing the spotlight to the Pacific on climate change issues. This fight for COVID-19 vaccine will once again need Fiji’s voice on international platforms.