Independent UN experts decry COVID vaccine hoarding: ‘No one is secure until all of us are’

“This pandemic, with its global scale and enormous human cost, with no clear end in sight, requires a concerted, human-rights based and courageous response from all States”, four UN experts together with members of a human rights working group said in a statement on universal access to vaccines. Spiking ahead Last month, the World Bank estimated that the pandemic would push between 88 and 115 million people into extreme poverty this year, potentially climbing to a total of 150 million during 2021. And the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has doubled its pre-COVID-19 estimates of hungry people, to project that 265 million would face crisis levels, unless direct action is taken. ‘No room’ for nationalism Engaging in a coordinated global effort to share vaccines across borders is the only means of effectively beating the coronavirus. The UN experts stressed, “there is no room for nationalism in fighting this pandemic”. “Unfortunately, some Governments are trying to secure vaccines...