The pandemic has now entered its deadliest phase, with Indian variant B.1.617.2 spreading fast just as governments in poor- and middle-income countries confront severe shortages of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.

Governments in rich countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, by contrast, have continued to advance ‘vaccine nationalism,’ hoarding vaccines, technology, and intellectual property even as the pandemic worsens across the world.

The attendees of the Summit for Vaccine Internationalism will respond to the escalating crisis by developing a truly global plan to guarantee open access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, to construct and expand production facilities across the globe, and to deliver a framework for equitable distribution.

Confirmed attendees include:

Dr. Regla Angulo Pardo
Vice Minister of Public Health, Cuba

Rogelio Mayta
Foreign Minister, Bolivia

Carla Vizzotti
Health Minister, Argentina

Jorge Arreaza
Foreign Minister, Venezuela

K. K. Shailaja
Minister of Legislative Assembly, Kerala state, India

Gustavo Petro
Senator, Colombia

Anyang’ Nyong’o
Governor, Kisumu county, Kenya

Giorgio Jackson
Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chile

Andres Arauz
Former Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent, Ecuador

Carina Vance
Former Health Minister, Ecuador

Jeremy Corbyn
Member of Parliament and former leader of UK Labour Party, UK

Niki Ashton
Member of Parliament, Canada

Dong Huy Cuong
Secretary General, the Vietnam Peace and Development Foundation, Vietnam

Celso Amorim
Former Foreign Minister, Brazil

Yanis Varoufakis
Member of Parliament and former Finance Minister, Greece

Sacha Llorenti
Executive Secretary of ALBA - TCP, Bolivia

Helen Yaffe
Lecturer at University of Glasgow (PI Collective)

Burcu Kilic
Director, Access to Medicines at Public Citizen (PI Collective)

Achal Prabhala
Coordinator of the AccessIBSA project (PI Collective)

Summit coordinator and Progressive International cabinet member Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla said:

“We have the capacity to end this pandemic, producing and distributing Covid-19 vaccines for all. And yet the end is nowhere in sight. A nexus of Big Pharma and Global North governments is standing in the way.

“As long as the virus spreads, it can mutate and move. Ending the pandemic is not a question of charity. It is a question of survival. The longer we wait, the more we are at risk: billions of lives, North and South, vaccinated and unvaccinated.

“That is why we are convening ministers, parliamentarians, government officials, healthcare workers and vaccine manufacturers in an emergency Summit for Vaccine Internationalism — with the Global South leading the way.

“Our goal is simple: to end the pandemic as quickly as possible by securing Covid-19 vaccines for all.”

Visit: https://act.progressive.international/vaccine-internationalism/