WASHINGTON – The ONE Campaign released the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory panel voted to recommend the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Tom Hart, North America executive director at The ONE Campaign:

“This is incredibly exciting news and is a big step towards the beginning of the end of this pandemic. Safe, effective vaccines will be key to ending the pandemic and reopening the global economy, but only if the most vulnerable, everywhere, have access to it. If not, this virus will continue to cross borders and wreak havoc in the US and beyond.

“As we look forward, the incoming Biden administration can take immediate steps to ensure we end this pandemic around the world by supporting global efforts to distribute vaccines and working with Congress to fund key partners like the Global Fund and Gavi.” 

Background: 

The ONE Campaign’s Vaccine Access Test assesses how well deals between G20 governments and pharmaceutical companies further vaccine access. To date, the US government’s actions have not been oriented toward global equity – it has not funded the ACT-Accelerator, not joined COVAX, and has not implemented policies that will improve access globally. If this strategy continues, it could cause an increase in the death toll and prolong the global economy crisis. A recent study found that if the world’s poorest countries cannot access vaccines, the world could lose between $60 and $340 billion a year in GDP. For every $1 spent on supplying poorer countries with vaccines, high-income countries would get back about $4.80.