Jab the world or risk disaster, experts say

SCIENTISTS hunting for new Covid variants have said the UK should be doing all it can to help vaccinate people in poorer countries.

Prof Sharon Peacock, head of the Covid-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK), said without mass vaccination in the developing world dangerous variants will continue to emerge.

Now Britain is under growing pressure to back a waiver on Covid-19 vaccine intellectual property rights after the US and 100 other countries supported the idea. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen indicated on Thursday that the EU may follow suit. Prof Peacock, of Cambridge University, said that whether a variant emerges that evades vaccines is the “million dollar question”. She added: “We should be vaccinating the world on a moral standpoint, but also to try and reduce the rate of infection, so we protect people, but also reduce the risk of variants emerging.

“Ultimately, that is one of the major threats to us.”

Only 0.3% of the vaccines administered globally by April had gone to people in low-income nations.

It is hoped the move could pave the way for cheaper versions of vaccines to enter the market and help scale up global production.

Pharmaceutical firms oppose the idea arguing it is logistical issues that are holding up supply.

Anna Marriott, health lead at Oxfam, said: “The UK shouldn’t be left standing on the wrong side of history and must join the US in doing the right thing for humanity.”