In view of the international meeting on 17 and 18 February, number 2 of the Farnesina proposes a package of European initiatives to immunize low-income countries. “The discussion on the suspension of patents is open”
ROME. “On 17 and 18 February, at the table with the African Union, the EU will present a package of initiatives to push the vaccination campaign in low-income countries, raise awareness of the importance of the vaccine, train staff, guarantee the “last mile” that allows the distribution and administration of doses », he affirms to Stampa.it the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Marina Sereni. At the Intersos conference (“Unequal pandemic. The complex challenge for access to vaccines, in Italy and in the world”), Sereni highlighted that at the beginning of January 2022 only 10% of the target population in the poorest countries in the world was vaccinated with at least one dose. 85% of Africans have not been reached by the vaccine. And 80% of the doses received by low-income countries come from the Covax global vaccination platform.
Sos Covax
Therefore “for 2022 we must refinance the Covax program and improve distribution, management of the cold chain and training of local personnel”. At the beginning of January 2022, only 10% of the target population in the poorest countries in the world had been vaccinated with at least one dose compared to 67% of the target population in the richest countries. “In the WTO we will discuss the temporary suspension of the patent on vaccines but it is a very complicated issue and we must prepare alternative ways if this goal is not achieved – specifies the Deputy Foreign Minister -. The priority is the awareness that rich countries must do their duty to the full. A year ago, vaccine production was scarce and the West kept most of the doses for itself. Today the picture has totally changed. Companies are able to produce all the doses necessary for the world population. Covax has already brought a billion vaccines to poor countries. The system has been progressing well for some months but needs to be strengthened and speeded up. It is crucial to help low-cost nations also in logistics to get to rural areas. WHO, United Nations and Western governments must strengthen support action in parts of the world where health systems are very fragile and cannot by themselves vaccinate the population on a large scale ”. Marina Sereni specifies: «There is the question of the regional production of vaccines. In South Africa they produce one similar to Moderna. In Morocco they are busy with vaccines other than Western ones. These are all initiatives to be supported “
Gap
A gap to be bridged, therefore. In sub-Saharan Africa, the percentage of the target population that has completed the vaccination cycle is at least 7 times lower than that of rich nations. Less than half of the countries achieved 10% coverage. Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo do not reach 1%. The commitment to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population by 2022 is far from being met.
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