International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) Forecasts That 12 Billion Doses of COVID Vaccines Could Be Produced This Year: Oxfam Reaction

In response to the announcement today from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), which forecasts that 12 billion doses of COVID vaccines could be produced this year, Max Lawson, Chair of the People's Vaccine Alliance and head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam, said:

"While the world is finally producing billons of doses of COVID-19 vaccines there is no guarantee that developing nations will get them. Of the vaccines produced to date, only 0.5 per cent have gone to the poorest countries.

"From the start of the pandemic, we've seen big pharma put profit before public interest, with poor countries locked out of deals created by industry and by rich governments. Developing countries cannot rely on the charity of rich nations or pharmaceutical corporations to save the lives of their people.

"Rich countries must immediately reallocate surplus doses, but this shouldn't be the only option for developing countries, which in some cases have been getting vaccine donations that arrive past their best before date. The only sustainable solution is to enable manufacturers in developing countries to produce their own vaccines by sharing technology and know-how and waiving intellectual property rights. Across the developing world factories stand ready.

"The world has created nine vaccine billionaires in the last year yet has failed to vaccinate billions of people - there is no reason to think this is likely to change anytime soon. Only when developing countries have a right to make their own vaccines can we defeat this virus."