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(CNN) -
Rich countries are vaccinating one person every second against COVID-19, while most poorer nations have yet to apply a single dose, the People's Vaccine Alliance said Tuesday.
These same rich nations are blocking efforts by developing countries for intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, the alliance said.
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The committee for the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization meets Wednesday to discuss exemption from the agreement.
“We should act now.
There is no way back.
It is totally unfair that rich countries, which have enough vaccines to protect their citizens, are blocking the TRIPS exemption, which could help poorer countries get the vaccines they need, ”said Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate and one from the leaders of the People's Vaccine Alliance.
"For the rich world, this proposed act of human solidarity to ensure that medicines and vaccines reach the entire human family is also in their own interest, not just an act of charity,"
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The People's Vaccine Alliance, which groups together organizations like Oxfam International, Frontline AIDS, UNAIDS and others, says this is another example of how rich countries prioritize the interests of big pharmaceutical monopolies over people's lives.
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"By allowing a small group of pharmaceutical companies to decide who lives and who dies, rich nations are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency and putting countless more lives on the line," said Oxfam CEO Gabriela Bucher.
"At this crucial moment, developing countries need support, not opposition."
The proposed TRIPS exemption would remove legal barriers and allow manufacturers around the world to start producing vaccines on a large scale within months, the alliance said.
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