Amid global vaccine inequality, Vatican weighs ethics of booster shots
Vatican City RNS While Catholic US President Joe Biden received his third shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts at the Vatican on Tuesday considered the ethics of such “booster shot” distribution in wealthy countries when many in other parts of the world have yet to receive the first dose. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, who heads the […]
Developing nations’ plea to world’s wealthy at UN: stop vaccine hoarding
United Nations Reuters Leaders from developing nations warned the UN General Assembly this week that COVID-19 vaccine hoarding by wealthy countries left the door open for the emergence of new coronavirus variants even as infections already increase in many places. The Philippines warned of a “man-made drought” of vaccines in poor countries, Peru said international […]
Essay: Should Pope Francis get a third COVID-19 vaccine shot?
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE says that when it comes to the Pope getting a third vaccination, the Vatican is “caught between a rock and a hard place”…
G20 urges COVID help for poor states, but short on new commitments
Rome, Italy Reuters The group of 20 rich countries said on Monday more efforts were needed to help poor countries vaccinate their populations against COVID-19, but steered clear of making new numerical or financial commitments. Italy, which holds the G20 presidency this year, said after the gathering that the “Pact of Rome”, named after where […]
More vaccines urgently needed in Latin America to contain Delta, says health agency
Brasilia, Brazil Reuters Three-quarters of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean have not been fully immunised against COVID-19 in contrast to the United States and Canada where a majority have been vaccinated, the Pan American Health Organization said on Wednesday. PAHO Director Carissa Etienne stressed the inequality in the access to vaccines in […]
US ships more than 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Iraq
Washington DC, US Reuters The US Government will ship just over 500,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Iraq on Thursday, with the shots due to arrive in the Middle Eastern country on Saturday, a White House official said. A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a “Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine” sticker and a medical syringe in […]
Essay: India’s vaccine rollout is ignoring the many inequities in its society
In an article first published on The Conversation, RAJIB DASGUPTA, chair of the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health at Jawaharlal Nehru University, looks at the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in India..
Raab calls for global vaccine drive as UK starts donating shots
Oxford, England Reuters British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned that the world would not be adequately vaccinated until 2024 unless other countries joined Britain in donating shots to poorer nations, an effort that could bring that date forward to the middle of next year. Britain pledged to donate 100 million vaccines when it hosted the […]
EU has shipped tiny percentage of planned COVID-19 shot donations – document
Brussels, Belgium Reuters EU countries have so far donated just a tiny portion of excess COVID-19 vaccines to poor nations, mostly AstraZeneca shots, less than three per cent of the 160 million doses they plan to give away in total to help tame the global pandemic, an EU document shows. The European Union has committed […]
Global interfaith prayer service advocates for vaccine equity
RNS Faith leaders from across the globe and from numerous faith traditions gathered together on Tuesday both on Zoom and with some 100 participants in person on the National Mall in the US capital of Washington, DC, to urge President Joe Biden to share COVID-19 vaccine stockpiles and to advocate for equitable global distribution of vaccines. […]