CAMPAIGNERS are calling on the First Minister to send a “clear, personal message” to Boris Johnson that more needs to be done to increase the number of Covid vaccines available in poorer nations.
Nicola Sturgeon is being urged to intervene and tell the Prime Minister that if he fails to act on this issue he will be “standing on the wrong side of history and Scotland will not stand alongside him”.
It comes in the wake of SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford challenging Johnson to “do the right thing” and waive intellectual property rights to vaccine patents.
Now the People’s Vaccine Alliance is urging rich nations to insist on the open sharing of successful vaccine technology.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance warned people continue to be at risk from new strains of Covid unless more is done to ensure people in developing nations can get protected.
Jamie Livingstone (above), head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “While the impact of the new variant remains unclear, the consequences of pharmaceutical companies being allowed to hold lifesaving vaccine recipes and technology hostage are already crystal clear.
“There simply aren’t enough doses to go around and until there are, we’ll continue to run risk of new variants threatening lives, vaccine efficacy and fragile economic recoveries in all countries.”
“We’re seeing mounting recognition of this threat in Scotland, but the First Minister must send a clear, personal message to Boris Johnson that if he continues to put patent and profit protection above saving lives, he is standing on the wrong side of history and Scotland will not stand alongside him.”
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