Fury over 27m vaccines deal MPS: Give Africa jabs instead
THE UK has nabbed first dibs on 27 million doses of Covid jabs which critics say should go to the poor.
Consumer minister Paul Scully revealed we have spent £71million to take millions more doses from Covax – the global organisation which boasts that it “bridges the vaccine divide regardless of wealth”.
That is in addition to the 500,000 Pfizer jabs the UK received from them in June – more than double the amount sent that month to the whole of Africa.
Yet the UK has already sourced enough doses to double-vaccinate the population three times over. Only two per cent of people in the poorest nations have had a first jab.
Mr Scully admitted we have so far given just 10% of
100 million vaccines promised. That has infuriated MPS who say the priority should be getting vaccine to poorer nations which lack enough.
Outrageous
They also point out this would cut the risk of deadly variants entering the UK.
Yesterday Harry, Meghan and Chelsea Clinton met at the World Health Organization in New York to reinforce their commitment to vaccine equity.
Shadow International Development Secretary Preet Kaur Gill said: “The Government needs to act now to donate excess vaccines and push the international community to do the same.”
Lib Dem Layla Moran, chair woman of the all party Coronavirus Group, said: “It’s outrageous to learn they have taken vaccines earmarked for some of the poorest people in the world.” She said that Britain should ensure the rest of the world is vaccinated before giving third booster jabs to healthy over-50s here. Boris Johnson has boasted we give money rather than vaccine – £548m to C ovax to help pay for its programme.
The PM did a deal with Covax, along with other rich nations, to pool investments in
exchange for early access to vaccines in case other deliveries did not work out. Covax expects to be 500 million doses short of its target for poorer countries this year and has already cut supplies to Africa by 150 million.
But even after booster shots and jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds have been rolled out, Britain will still have 200 million doses left.
Their use-by dates are likely to expire before they can be sent elsewhere.
Covax said: “We leave it to individual governments to comment on their agreements with Covax.”
Neither the Department for Business, nor the Department of Health and the Foreign Office would comment. nigel.nelson@people.
co.uk