The United Reformed Church General Assembly Moderators, the Revd Clare Downing and Mr Peter Pay, joined 143 faith leaders across the world in calling for the production and distribution of enough Covid vaccines for the entire global population.
In a statement made through Christian Aid on 27 April, global leaders were urged to reject greed and vaccine nationalism. The call for a ‘people’s vaccine’ is in relation to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of organisations and activists campaigning for a ‘people’s vaccine’ for Covid-19, which would be based on shared knowledge made freely available to everyone everywhere.
The faith leaders made the moral case that it is unfair that countries in the global north are hoarding vaccines while low- and middle-income countries are barely getting any doses.
In the statement, the faith leaders said: “The Covid crisis has reminded us all of our interdependence, and of our responsibilities to care for one another. We can each only be well, when all of us are well. If one part of the world is left to suffer the pandemic, all parts of the world will be put at ever-increasing risk.
“The access of people to life-saving Covid-19 vaccines cannot be dependent on people’s wealth, status, or nationality. We cannot abdicate our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters by imagining that the market can be left to resolve the crisis, or pretend to ourselves that our country has no obligation to people in their country. Every person is precious. We all have a moral obligation to reach everyone.”
Image: Macau Photo Agency/Unsplash
Publihsed: 5 May 2021