Sign our open letter to the Chair of the Covid-19 Inquiry

A public inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic is coming.

The inquiry will analyse how the UK government approached this public health crisis that has cost over 150,000 lives here in the UK, and over 5.6 million worldwide - with the true figures likely much higher. It will also look into the lessons we need to learn from the pandemic.

We believe no inquiry into the UK's pandemic response will be complete without taking into account the government's failure to address the crisis of vaccine access internationally. We want to know why they hoarded doses while the rest of the world was desperate for vaccines, and why they continue to block measures to expand production and share know-how.

Please add your name to this open letter to Baroness Hallett, the chair of the Covid Inquiry.

► Read the open letter

Open letter to Baroness Hallett, Chair of Covid-19 Inquiry

We welcome you into your role as Chair of the Covid-19 Inquiry. We are writing as we feel strongly that this Inquiry should seek to answer questions regarding the UK government’s failed approach to global vaccine equity, and the repercussions of those decisions for people both overseas and in the UK.

The failure of governments around the world to do everything in their power to ensure equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics means that we are now living in a global vaccine apartheid. While 72% of people in rich countries are fully vaccinated, only 16% of people in Africa have received one vaccine dose. According to the WHO over 5.6 million people have died worldwide from the virus - though the Economist puts the true figure at over 20 million.

While the UK Government made a significant contribution to the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which was 97% publicly funded, and has contributed money to the COVAX Facility to redistribute doses in the global south, these acts have evidently done little to address the systemic barriers to wide-spread access to vaccines and other pandemic tools. The Government’s decision to hoard vaccine doses, their over-reliance on the COVAX and the decision to back pharmaceutical company’s Covid monopolies have prolonged the pandemic and led to countless more deaths.

The enormous resulting disparity in access to Covid-19 vaccines globally has provided the conditions for new variants to emerge which have further restricted global recovery and have wrought havoc in the NHS. Those with long term health conditions have been hit with a double whammy of having to remain in isolation for longer and being less able to access NHS services they rely on.

Domestic Covid-19 vaccination is a key part of the UK Government's Covid-19 strategy. And now we've seen how global vaccine inequity impacts us in the UK as well. We feel your investigation needs to look into failings of the government to ensure global vaccine access.

We, the undersigned, therefore ask you that the inquiry seeks to understand:

  • What was the Government’s approach to vaccine equity globally and what impact this approach had on public health
  • What evidence and industry relationships impacted the Government's approach to vaccine equity. Specifically, what led to the decisions to:
  • oppose the temporary TRIPS waiver proposal at the World Trade Organisation
  • not support the WHO’s sharing platform, Covid-19 Technology Access Pool

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