<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><a href="https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/global-unions-join-biden-eu-parliament-in-call-urgent-waiver-vaccine-patents-tackle-dangerous" class="">https://www.itfglobal.org/en/news/global-unions-join-biden-eu-parliament-in-call-urgent-waiver-vaccine-patents-tackle-dangerous</a><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><h1 class=""><span class="field-title">Global Unions join Biden, EU Parliament in call for urgent waiver on vaccine patents to tackle dangerous new variants</span></h1></div><div class=""><div class="field-body"><p class=""><strong class="">Geneva, London, 29 November 2021 - </strong>The
Council of Global Union (CGU), representing over 200 million workers,
has urged UK, Switzerland, Germany and the EU Commission to stop
blocking efforts to waive vaccine patents. The largest council of global
unions believe action must and can be taken this week to urgently
enable vaccine production in the Global South.</p><p class="">The demand from unions for a
World Trade Organisation (WTO) waiver on intellectual property rights
for Covid vaccines comes as the new Omicron variant emerges from
countries which have been denied the right to produce their own
vaccines. It also comes amidst renewed momentum and urgency from world
leaders, with President Biden and the European Parliament - the only EU
institution elected by citizens - reiterating their calls for
intellectual property waivers on vaccines. </p><p class="">Governments were set to meet at
the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva this week, now postponed
because of risks posed by Omicron, to decide on whether a waiver on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) - the
world's most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual
property - would finally be approved for Covid vaccines and supplies. </p><p class="">To secure the waiver, the TRIPS
Council can be convened at any time to put forward a written proposal
for the WTO General Council to formalise. Such a waiver was first
proposed by South Africa and India in October 2020 and now has the
backing of over 100 nations. This proposal has been blocked by only a
handful of wealthy countries including the UK, Switzerland and Germany,
where major pharmaceutical companies are headquartered.</p><p class="">Despite the postponement,
governments can still take immediate action to approve the waiver this
week. WTO Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted that
negotiations must continue and delegates “should be fully empowered to
close as many gaps as possible” as “this new variant reminds us once
again of the urgency of the work we are charged with.” </p><p class="">Unions believe that if the UK,
Switzerland and Germany stand down from their opposition to the TRIPS
waiver, the lifting of patents, alongside undisclosed information
protection and technology transfer, we can vaccinate the world. The CGU
cites an Oxford University study which demonstrates a pathway for the
global community to establish regional centers capable of producing
eight billion doses of vaccine by May 2022 to help end the pandemic.</p><p class=""><strong class="">Stephen Cotton, Chair of the CGU, and General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), said: </strong> “I
speak directly to the Heads of State for the UK, Germany and
Switzerland when I say this: your decisions are putting millions of
lives and livelihoods at risk. The world is watching you, as panic and
anxiety spread at the rise of a new variant that may have been prevented
if you had acted sooner. The waiver can be agreed this week, you must
act now or forever hold the preventable deaths of millions more on your
conscience.”</p><p class=""> Over 4 million people have died
from Covid-19 since the waiver was first proposed. The Biden
Administration, which has given away more doses than all other
governments combined, made clear in a statement last week that the
TRIPS waiver is an urgent and essential next step to end the pandemic.</p><p class=""><strong class="">Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of Public Services International (PSI), added: </strong> “A
handful of leaders are putting the interests of the pharma lobby ahead
of the frontline workers they once applauded. This is an insult to their
sacrifice. If the leaders of the UK, Switzerland and EU nations want to
break the cycle of lockdowns and travel blocks, then they must
immediately stop blocking the TRIPS waiver proposal so no barriers stand
in the way of expanding vaccine production and quashing new variants.”</p><p class=""><strong class="">See full CGU statement here</strong>: <a href="https://www.itfglobal.org/sites/default/files/node/resources/files/CGU_Statement_COVID19_VaccineEquity_29%20November%202021.pdf" class="">Global
workers call for universal access to Covid-19 vaccines and health
products and technologies, governments must act urgently</a></p><p class=""><strong class="">Contact details:</strong> Shona Karp / <a href="mailto:s.karp@woodrowcommunications.com" class="">s.karp@woodrowcommunications.com</a> / 07939588620 <br class="">
</p>
<h3 class=""><strong class="">Notes to editors</strong></h3><p class="">The International Monetary Fund
recently warned that inadequate access to vaccines could lead to global
GDP losses of $5.3 trillion over the next five years. Meanwhile,
pharmaceutical corporations are now making over $1,000,000 in pre-tax
profits every 15 minutes. In the UK, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-23/astrazeneca-plots-next-steps-in-covid-strategy-with-new-u-k-lab" class="">Astrazeneca</a>
announced plans to shift to a for-profit model for their vaccine,
despite the fact that 97% of the funds for its development came from
public sources. </p><p class=""><strong class="">About the CGU</strong> <br class="">
The <a href="https://www.global-unions.org/" class="">Council of Global Unions (CGU)</a>
is the partnership between the International Trade Union Confederation,
Global Union Federations and the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the
OECD that represents over 200 million workers. The current Chair of the
CGU is Stephen Cotton (ITF) and the Secretary is Sharan Burrow (ITUC). </p><p class=""><strong class="">About ITF</strong> <br class="">
The <a href="https://www.itfglobal.org/" class="">International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)</a>
is a democratic, affiliate-led federation recognised as the world’s
leading transport authority. We fight passionately to improve working
lives; connecting almost 700 trade unions from 147 countries to secure
rights, equality and justice for their members. ITF is the voice for
nearly 20 million working women and men in the transport industry
globally. </p><p class=""><strong class="">About PSI</strong> <br class="">
<a href="https://publicservices.international/" class="">Public Services International (PSI)</a>
is a Global Union Federation of more than 700 trade unions representing
30 million workers in 154 countries. We bring their voices to the UN,
ILO, WHO and other regional and global organisations. PSI defends trade
union and workers' rights and fights for universal access to quality
public services. </p><p class=""><strong class="">Additional information on the vaccine roll-out:</strong></p>
<ul class="">
<li class="">Less than <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" class="">1 in 10 people in low-income countries</a>
have received a single Covid-19 vaccine dose. On 26 November, the World
Health Organization called out the ‘scandal’ of a vaccine roll-out
where s<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/11/12/world/covid-vaccine-boosters-mandates" class="">ix times more booster shots</a> are being administered around the world daily than primary doses in low-income countries.</li>
<li class="">There have been serious
problems with the limited vaccines being made available to regions like
Africa, with countries receiving doses which are out-of-date or due to
expire before they can be administered. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/08/12/why-are-african-countries-destroying-covid-19-vaccines" class="">450,000 doses had to be destroyed</a> in countries across Africa, and public concerns have contributed to vaccine hesitancy.</li>
<li class="">Lower income countries are
supposed to be covered by a vaccine scheme, Covax. However, this scheme
had limited capacity from the start; it only envisaged <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/18-12-2020-covax-announces-additional-deals-to-access-promising-covid-19-vaccine-candidates-plans-global-rollout-starting-q1-2021" class="">a fifth</a> of people in the countries it covered by the end of 2021 in the first place. And it has fallen short, delivering just over a <a href="https://www.gavi.org/covax-vaccine-roll-out" class="">quarter </a>of that limited target so far. </li>
<li class="">On 26 November, the US’ <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-president-biden-calls-intellectual-property-protection-waivers-covid-19-2021-11-26/" class="">President Biden called</a>
on countries due to meet at the WTO to agree to waive intellectual
property protections on Covid-19 vaccines. Earlier in the week, the
European Parliament passed a resolution <a href="https://agenceurope.eu/en/bulletin/article/12840/19" class="">supporting a TRIPS waiver</a>.</li>
<li class="">A former director of chemistry
at Moderna, producer of one of the first approved vaccines, has said
that with the right blueprint and technical advice, <a href="https://www.oxfam.org.uk/media/press-releases/rich-nations-vaccinating-one-person-every-second-while-majority-of-the-poorest-nations-are-yet-to-give-a-single-dose/" class="">a modern factory should be able to produce the vaccine in, at most, three to four months</a>.</li>
<li class="">The failure to take the right
action globally to tackle the pandemic has opened the door to new and
more dangerous variants, which are already impacting industry, including
in countries standing in the way of a waiver. In aviation, for example,
when the Alpha variant hit, total passenger capacity on flights between
Germany and the UK fell by 76%. The industry is facing projected
passenger operating revenue losses of between USD 314 and 324 billion,
and each new variant worsens the damage and undercuts recovery.</li>
</ul></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""><br class=""><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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