{"id":157187,"date":"2021-10-29T12:53:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T12:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/canada\/?post_type=one_press&p=157187"},"modified":"2023-09-05T15:52:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:52:02","slug":"act-now-or-face-a-decade-long-pandemic-warn-campaigners","status":"publish","type":"one_press","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/ca\/press\/act-now-or-face-a-decade-long-pandemic-warn-campaigners\/","title":{"rendered":"Act now or face a decade-long pandemic, warn campaigners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rome, 28th October.<\/b>\u00a0As the G20 leaders prepare to meet in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic, new analysis released by the ONE Campaign today reveals the chief obstacles standing in the way of global efforts to end the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The analysis shows that a key challenge remains the uneven distribution of vaccines. To date, twice as many boosters were administered in high-income countries as first dose vaccines in low and middle-income countries. If the current trend continues, ONE warns that it could take over a decade before countries can secure enough vaccines to put an end to this crisis.<\/p>\n

The other key barrier identified in ONE\u2019s report to ending the crisis is the insufficient financial support and failure to address the economic aftershocks of the pandemic. Despite the historic $650 billion in new Special Drawing Rights (SDR), the lack of commitment from some wealthy countries to recycle their portion risks crippling economic recovery for all. Other challenges flagged in the report include vaccine manufacturing capacity, the mechanism to purchase and distribute doses to low-income countries and the lack of predictable vaccine flows.<\/p>\n

Failure to put a stop to the uneven health and economic response \u2013 driven by double standards and inequality \u2013 will push this pandemic into an increasingly man-made crisis that could continue into the 2030s.<\/p>\n

Emily Wigens, EU Director at the ONE Campaign, said:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThis pandemic isn\u2019t over for any of us, so it\u2019s in the interests of the people everywhere in the world for countries to put aside differences and work together to end this crisis. COVID-19 is not going to get better on its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to turn 18 months of failure into 18 months of lessons on how to do this better \u2013 starting by putting a stop to the deadly double standards that leave us all at risk from this virus. This isn\u2019t just a health crisis \u2013 it\u2019s an economic crisis and a threat to the security of people everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis needs to be the moment when we turn commitments into real doses in people\u2019s arms, and get real financial support or we face the prospect of continuing to fail and having to live with the pandemic, and its consequences, indefinitely. It\u2019s time to vaccinate the world, end the pandemic and kickstart a genuinely global recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

ENDS \u2013\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Contact information:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Justin McAuley (justin.mcauley@one.org<\/a> or 613-324-5333)<\/p>\n

Emily Wigens will be available for comment throughout the G20 summit in Rome. For more information, please contact:<\/p>\n

Guadalupe de las Casas Escardo\u00a0(guadalupe.casas@one.org\u00a0+32472717420\u00a0<\/a>)
\nBrenda Yu (brenda.yu@one.org\u00a0+447823667467)
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Notes to editors\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n