UN human rights experts call for equal access of Covid-19 vaccines in global south

UN human rights experts today called on leaders of the world's largest economies to make sure people in the Global South get equal access to Covid-19 vaccines and not to allow the profit motive to undermine global health and equity.

"Everyone has a right to have access to a vaccine for COVID-19 that is safe, effective, timely and based on the application of the best scientific development," the experts said ahead of the G7 summit of leaders to be held in the UK on 11-13 June.

"Now is the time for international solidarity and cooperation to provide effective assistance to all governments in their vaccination efforts and to save lives," they said in a statement by the UN Human Rights Council from Geneva today.

"It is not the time for protracted negotiations or for lobbying to erect barriers in order to protect corporate profits."

The experts stressed that the extraordinarily speedy production of safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19 has not been followed by swift action to ensure equity of access across all countries and regions.

"Billions of people in the Global South are being left behind. They see vaccines as a mirage or a privilege for the developed world," the experts said.

The G7 leaders must make it their top priority to protect the rights to life and health of people in the most socially and economically precarious situations at a time when millions face poverty and hunger, said the experts, echoing their statement last year on the human costs of the pandemic.

"It is shocking that, according to WHO reports, less than one percent of all vaccines administered so far have gone to low-income countries," they said. They stressed the importance of ensuring that intellectual property rights do not become a barrier to low-cost production and expanded supply. Also, they urged pharmaceutical companies to join WHO's COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) for sharing know-how, data, and to facilitate technology transfer.