News
UNICEF reveals UK hogs mountain of surplus vaccines while poor nations are crying out for help
While Sri Lanka is stuggling to procure 600,000 AstraZeneca doses needed for the second jab, the UNICEF yesterday (12) reported that the United Kingdom had a massive surplus of vaccines.
UNICEF said that the UK should give away a fifth of its Covid vaccines to help poorer countries protect their citizens. The British media reported that the UK has ordered 517million doses though it required around 160m to vaccinate all adults and give them booster jabs in the autumn, as planned.
Analysis by the UK arm of the United Nations Children’s Fund asserted that the country could have enough leftover doses to fully vaccinate 50m people – the population of Spain or South Korea.
And if all the vaccines currently in trials are approved this would soar to 115m, it said – almost double the population of South Africa.
Campaigners warned hogging vaccines and allowing the virus to continue spreading elsewhere would raise the risk of a new variant emerging and coming back to wreak havoc in Britain.
UNICEF said Britain could share 20 per cent of its current supply and still hit its goal of offering every adult a vaccine by the end of July. It claimed the UK could reach the target by July 9 and sharing the doses would only push it back by 10 days.
‘Unless the UK urgently starts sharing its available doses to ensure others around the world are protected from the virus, the UK will not be safe from Covid,’ said UNICEF UK’s Joanna Rea.
Two thirds of adults in the UK have now had at least one vaccine dose and almost 18million are fully vaccinated. Real-world data suggests the jabs prevent eight to nine out of 10 severe Covid cases, almost all deaths and also slash transmission of the virus by half
UNICEF estimated that Britain could give away 20 per cent of its projected available stock and still meet its target to give all adults their first dose of vaccine by the end of July.
But it is not clear how many vaccines the UK is currently sitting on because of commercial agreements to keep the figures private.
The only data provided is the number of doses of each jab that have been dished out — 28.5million of AstraZeneca, 19.5m of Pfizer and 100,000 of Moderna.
The charity warned that the success of the vaccination programme in the UK could be ‘reversed’ if supply is not shared.
Concerns have been raised that while the virus rages in other parts of the world there is more chance for new variants to emerge.
And experts have suggested that new variants could potentially escape the protection afforded by the vaccines.
UNICEF UK called on the Government and other G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – to start sharing vaccines through Covax from June.
Ms Rea said: ‘The UK has done a fantastic job in rolling out Covid vaccines to more than half of its adult population and we should all be proud of what has been achieved.
‘However, we can’t ignore that the UK and other G7 countries have purchased over a third of the world’s vaccine supply, despite making up only 13 per cent of the global population – and we risk leaving low-income countries behind.
‘Unless the UK urgently starts sharing its available doses to ensure others around the world are protected from the virus, the UK will not be safe from Covid-19.
‘Our vaccine rollout success could be reversed and the NHS could be fighting another wave of the virus due to deadly mutations.’
On Monday Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said the way to prevent or minimise the number of new variants is to ‘get on top of’ the pandemic globally.
And the World Health Organization said there was a ‘shocking disparity’ in access to Covid vaccines between rich and poor countries.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing: ‘The shocking global disparity in access to Covid vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic.
‘High and upper-middle income countries represent 53 per cent of the world’s population, but have received 83 per cent of the world’s vaccines.
‘By contrast, low and lower-middle income countries account for 47 per cent of the world’s population, but have received just 17 per cent of the world’s vaccines.’
He added: ‘How quickly we end the Covid pandemic and how many sisters and brothers we lose along on the way, depends on how quickly and how fairly we vaccinate a significant proportion of the population and how consistently we all follow proven public health measures.’
Latest News
Action beyond dialogue is essential in addressing Green Financing and climate change. – Prime Minister
There have been numerous discussions and dialogues successfully conducted across various sectors, but it is now crucial to move beyond conversation and focus on strengthening the implementation. Such collaborative effort like GGGI initiates in leading Sri Lanka towards a resilient and sustainable finance.
The Prime Minister made these remarks while attending the Sri Lanka climate finance awareness session on advancing sustainable finance and carbon markets for climate action held today (30) at hotel Marriott Bonvoy in Colombo City Center.
The awareness session was organized by the Prime Minister’s Office with the collaboration of the ministry of Environment and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to create awareness of Green finance strategies leading to new initiatives for sustainable Sri Lanka.
Delivering the keynote address, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that this session is intended to support the line ministries in better understanding how these financing mechanisms work and how they could be leveraged to implement the sustainable development priorities.
Addressing the event, the Prime Minister further stated:
“Sri Lanka has developed and updated numerous environmental frameworks to address the growing challenge of climate change, that has become the current development challenge that continues to affect lives, livelihoods, and our overall trajectory as a nation.
In Sri Lanka, key sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, energy, tourism, and water are increasingly exposed to climate-related disruptions, threatening both livelihoods and macroeconomic stability. To prevent this trajectory, we must leverage a full spectrum of international climate finance instruments.
Sri Lanka has a solid policy foundation, political will, and the institutional capacity to lead on climate action. What we now need is the financial architecture to match this ambition. Hence, today’s session represents a step toward building shared awareness and technical capacity across the public sector”.
The Prime Minister emphasized that while numerous discussions and dialogues have been successfully conducted across various sectors, it is now crucial to move beyond conversation and focus on concrete implementation highlighting that meaningful results can only be achieved when ideas and plans are translated into action, and urged all stakeholders and officers to prioritize execution to bring about the positive changes the country needs.
The event was attended by secretary to the Prime Minister, G. P. Saputhanthri, representatives from the central bank, representatives of Ministries and GGGI institute.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that there is a contemporary need to develop the Pirivena and Bhikkhu education and that the government is seeking the revered guidance of Maha Sangha in that cause.
The Prime Minister made these remarks while addressing the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Amarapura Ariyavansa Saddhamma Yukthika Nikaya on Tuesday (29) at the Sri Subodhi Rajarama Mulasthana Maha Vihara in Bombuwala, Kalutara.
During the event, the Prime Minister honored sixty-three venerable members of the Maha Sangha who had rendered their noble service to the Sasana and also conferred awards upon several distinguished lay benefactors in recognition of their contributions.
Delivering the keynote speech, the Prime Minister stated:
“There has always been a strong bond between Buddhism and society throughout history. Culture and social relations have been built alongside the Buddhist philosophy. The society we seek to establish as a nation must embody the Buddhist values of fairness, equality, and compassion. These virtues, as taught in the Buddhist philosophy, are ever relevant and alive.
Piriven and Bhikkhu education are currently facing numerous challenges, and considerable efforts are needed to address them. Thereby a substantial and concerted intervention is required.
A pertinent question arises as whether our Pirivena institutions are adequately preparing for the evolving needs of the world? There was once a belief in Europe that, with scientific advancement, religion would become redundant. Today, this view has been discredited. Along with material progress, spiritual development remains indispensable.
The knowledge, attitudes, and skills of our Bhikkhus must be enhanced to meet the emerging global challenges. A profound discussion on necessary reforms in Piriven and Bhikkhu education is therefore imperative.
Opportunities for Bhikkhus to study subjects such as mathematics, science, and modern languages are currently limited. Without exposure to contemporary disciplines, it is questionable whether one can successfully confront present-day challenges”.
The event, held under the patronage of the Venerable Egodamulle Amaramoli Mahanayake Thera, the Chief incumbent of the Amarapura Ariyavansa Saddhamma Yukthika Nikaya, was attended by members of the Maha Sangha, Minister of Mass Media and Health Mr. Nalinda Jayatissa, several Members of Parliament, and numerous lay devotees.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
Under the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme, plans are underway to launch a 1,000-acre forest plantation project in collaboration with the private sector. This large-scale initiative is designed to operate under the Public-Private-People Partnership (4P) concept and a preliminary discussion on the project was held today (30) at the Presidential Secretariat.
The discussion focused on resolving technical aspects associated with the project and addressing the fundamental issues necessary for the land release.
The programme aims to implement several effective environmental projects in the coming year with the active participation of the private sector. These efforts are intended to safeguard the country’s biodiversity, forest cover and natural ecosystems, while also reinforcing the shared responsibility of the public, government and private sector in environmental conservation.
The discussion was chaired by Senior Additional Secretary to the President Russell Aponsu and Additional Secretary of the Clean Sri Lanka Programme S.P.C. Sugeeshwara, with the participation of senior officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation and Environment
Action beyond dialogue is essential in addressing Green Financing and climate change. – Prime Minister
Pirivena and Bhikkhu education must be developed – PM
1,000-acre forest plantation project to be launched under “Clean Sri Lanka” programme
-
Business4 days agoPick My Pet wins Best Pet Boarding and Grooming Facilitator award
-
News4 days agoNew Lankan HC to Australia assumes duties
-
News4 days agoLankan ‘snow-white’ monkeys become a magnet for tourists
-
News2 days agoJapan-funded anti-corruption project launched again
-
Features4 days agoKing Donald and the executive presidency
-
Business4 days agoACHE Honoured as best institute for American-standard education
-
Features6 days agoThe Truth will set us free – I
-
Business2 days agoNational Savings Bank appoints Ajith Akmeemana,Chief Financial Officer