“Plans to allocate up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to humanitarian troublespots by the end of this year could be derailed because neither the drug companies nor the UN agencies and NGOs want to shoulder the risk of potential lawsuits.”
“The world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health crisis, but it’s time we shift gears and recognise it for the global humanitarian emergency that it is.”
“With one of the weakest health systems in the world and a government in turmoil, Somalia is struggling with a new wave of coronavirus infections that will likely lead to a surge in unrecorded and unrecognised deaths, health officials and aid workers warn.”
“India has been the leading COVID-19 vaccine supplier to much of the world through COVAX- the UN-backed scheme shipping doses to countries from Afghanistan to Zambia. But now it is struggling to fully vaccinate its own population amid a coronavirus health crisis that grows worse by the day.”
“In May, South Africa begins its mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign, aimed at reaching 40 million people- the minimum to reach herd immunity- by the beginning of next year. “
“Instead of focusing strictly on even distribution, COVAX could incorporate other factors in prioritisation, such as provision of sound distribution plans and accountable tracking mechanisms to ensure that limited resources provide the most benefit.”
“Many countries have started rolling out coronavirus vaccines, but it’s unclear when and in some cases, how these vaccines will reach people caught in crisis zones.”
“Outrage is growing among human rights advocates at the use of commercial ferries by Italian authorities to quarantine asylum seekers and migrants due to COVID-19 – not just new arrivals, but also people from reception centres inland who have been in Italy for years.”
“The humanitarian system has developed to respond to geographically contained and separate crises that are usually a long-haul flight from the centres of power and wealth that sustain it.”
“Alarm bells have been ringing for months that COVID-19 could push fragile African countries ‘closer to the abyss’ of famine as jobs are lost, local markets close, and poverty deepens.”
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