Oxfam reaction to G7 leaders' plan to pledge at least 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poor countries

Responding to news that G7 leaders are collectively planning to pledge at least 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries, Oxfam's Health Policy Manager Anna Marriott said: 

"If the best G7 leaders can manage is to donate 1 billion vaccine doses then this summit will have been a failure. It is estimated that the world will need 11 billion doses to end the pandemic. 

"Dose sharing is part of the solution if done immediately, but charity is not going to fix the colossal vaccine supply crisis. In order to ramp up production, the G7 should break the pharmaceutical monopolies and insist that the vaccine science and know-how is shared with qualified manufacturers around the world.

"Presidents Biden and Macron have supported a waiver on the intellectual property behind COVID vaccines ―the other G7 nations should follow their lead. The lives of millions of people in developing countries should never be dependent on the good will of rich nations and profit hungry pharmaceutical corporations."