We look at the push to end what the World Health Organization is calling “vaccine apartheid,” as many countries have yet to see a single COVID-19 vaccine shot amid mounting infections.

“What we’re looking for is an alternative to a system that has basically allowed for COVID-19 vaccines to be absolutely concentrated in the higher-income countries,” says Carina Vance Mafla, former health minister of Ecuador, who co-chaired this weekend’s emergency Summit on Vaccine Internationalism.

She argues vaccine access can be improved by expanding vaccine “production in other countries … that have developed vaccine candidates, but also having pricing that is based on solidarity.”

Democracy Now! also speaks with Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project, which campaigns for access to medicines in India, Brazil and South Africa. Prabhala says the pandemic is now “largely a developing country problem.”

Democracy Now! produces a daily, global, independent news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan González. lOur reporting includes breaking daily news headlines and in-depth interviews with people on the front lines of the world’s most pressing issues. 

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Amy Goodman Carina Vance Mafla Coronavirus Covid COVID-19 Democracy Now! Ecuador Free Speech TV Internationalism Vaccine Vaccine Apartheid