A COALITION of more than 75 civil society groups are demanding that G20 leaders tackle global vaccine inequality or risk prolonging the Covid-19 pandemic. 

As the leaders of the world’s richest nations meet at a summit in Rome, they have been accused of turning their backs on coronavirus deaths in the global South by failing to address vaccine shortages. 

The Peoples Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of more than 57 organisations including Oxfam, Amnesty International, the African Alliance and Global Justice Now, urged the G20 leaders to waive patents on Covid vaccines. 

Most leaders support the idea, but a minority of countries, including Britain and Germany, are blocking a waiver, preventing poorer nations from manufacturing doses themselves. 

People’s Vaccine Alliance policy lead Anna Marriot said: “It’s an absolute scandal that the G20 has wasted a year ignoring a proposal, backed by the majority of its members, to break vaccine monopolies and ensure the life-saving vaccines can be made around the world to save countless lives.

“The G20 is turning its back on the thousands of children orphaned every day by this pandemic. G20 leaders who support the waiver must not be silenced by the rich country members like the UK and Germany. It is beyond time to act.”

G20 member states represent 62 per cent of the world’s population but have used 82 per cent of the world’s Covid-19 vaccines, while only 3.1 per cent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, campaigners said.

Amnesty International right to health adviser Tamaryn Nelson said it was unconscionable that G20 leaders are not taking sufficient action to address vaccine inequality while tens of thousands of people continue to die from the virus each week. 

“Countries sitting on excess vaccines must redistribute these doses now and pharmaceutical companies need to share the know-how needed to scale up global production,” she said. 

“Anything short of this is depriving billions of people of life-saving vaccines and medicines. We have no more time to waste.”

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said: “Armed with effective vaccines and abundant manufacturing capacity, we should be able to swiftly vaccinate the world from Covid-19.”