By Lucy Caulkett-
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called on Covid vaccine manufacturers to act with “responsibility and leadership” and increase their allocation of doses distributed to poorer parts of the world.
Harry and Meghan have written an open letter to the chief executives of pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca urging them to redouble their support for the UN-sponsored Covax programme.
The couple have called on all firms to temporarily suspend intellectual property rights applied to Covid vaccines, and for a “global public-private collaboration” so production methods for the jabs can be shared.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today urged vaccine manufacturers to ‘temporarily suspend’ intellectual property rights in order to help those in developing countries gain access to jabs – as they marked Archie’s second birthday by asking for $5 donations to aid global distribution.
The Duke, 36, and Duchess of Sussex, 39, shared an emotive letter to the CEOs of Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Norovax on Thursday as they launched a campaign to ‘ensure equitable vaccine access globally’.
The lengthy note, published to Global Citizen, had asked the vaccine bosses to ‘act with extraordinary purpose, responsibility, and leadership’ in response to a ‘equity crisis’ and use ‘every possible measure to increase global supply.’
These proposed measures included ‘the temporary suspension of intellectual property and extraordinary global public-private collaboration resulting in wider transfer of technology and know-how.’
AstraZeneca has already vowed not to profit from the vaccine during the pandemic, but Harry and Meghan today urged the CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna to follow suit and supply at least 100 million doses of their vaccinations at ‘not-for-profit prices’ this year.
They also requested that the two pharma giants accelerate their supply and deliver the jabs to COVAX – the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, which protects people against the virus ‘regardless of wealth’ – as soon as possible.
Harry and Meghan’s vaccine mission comes as Joe Biden yesterday threw his support behind efforts to waive intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines in an effort to accelerate the end of the pandemic.
There has been a call for Covid vaccine patents to be ditched so companies can make cheaper versions to send to very low income countries, which have given just 0.4 per cent of the 1.2 billion
The Sussexes’ intervention into the global debate about the vaccine rollout comes on the second birthday of their son Archie, and separately they have asked those wanting to mark this to donate funds which will support Covax.
Duke and Duchess of Sussex
At the weekend Harry appeared with a host of big names from the worlds of music, film and politics at Global Citizen’s Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World, a charity performance in aid of the international Covid vaccination effort.
Speaking to a supportive crowd of only fully-vaccinated guests, the duke asked for vaccines to be “distributed to everyone everywhere”, while also saluting frontline medical workers both at the concert and around the world.
Harry and Meghan, writing in their roles as Vax Live campaign chairs, said: “As of May 1, over 80% of the 1.2 billion vaccine doses administered globally have occurred in high and upper-middle-income countries while the very lowest income countries have administered just 0.4%.
“As we are seeing in countries like India, the urgency to deliver doses now to save lives and stop the spread of Covid-19 is only increasing.
“That’s why it is imperative that we ensure equitable vaccine access globally so that people are protected, economies can recover, and this global pandemic can be brought to an end everywhere.
“Therefore we, the undersigned, stand with global citizens who want to see Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers act with extraordinary purpose, responsibility, and leadership in response to this equity crisis.”
Harry and Meghan’s letter is available for the public to sign on the website of the anti-poverty movement Global Citizen, and it calls on Moderna to “move up your delivery schedule with Covax and increase the promised 2021 volume to at least 100 million doses”.
It also urges Pfizer/BioNTech “to commit at least 100 million additional doses to Covax at a not-for-profit price and to deliver them as soon as possible this year”.
Covax was set up last year to try to establish fair access to the vaccines for poor and rich nations, but huge discrepancies have emerged.
Over 49 million doses have been delivered through the system . but scientists say more than £25 billion is still needed to ensure most adults are immunised.