New Campaign Demands World Leaders 'Stop Playing Games' and End Vaccine Apartheid

As athletes from around the world prepare to compete in the Olympics in Tokyo—without any in-person spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than a year after the crisis began and despite the availability of effective vaccines—advocacy groups on Wednesday called on world leaders to "stop playing games" and end the apartheid that's keeping the Global South from accessing vaccine doses.

The People's Vaccine Alliance and Public Citizen launched their new Stop Playing Games campaign to demand that leaders of wealthy countries, 33 of which have vaccinated at least 50% of their populations, invest in a global vaccine manufacturing plan to produce and distribute doses at a faster rate in regional hubs around the world.

"This crisis is the direct result of political decisions by leaders of wealthy nations, who hoard vaccines and booster shots while billions of people wait, potentially for years, for their first dose."
—Campaign leaders

The campaign was launched as Pfizer announced it would begin manufacturing vaccines under license via a manufacturer in South Africa in order to produce 100 million doses for people in African countries. With countries including South Africa and Kenya experiencing surges in Covid-19 cases, Oxfam America and the People's Vaccine Alliance said the pledge was "simply not enough."