The new German government wants to donate at least 75 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries next year without cutting back on its own vaccination campaign.
“Brutal” effects of the pandemic: increased poverty and violence
Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) said in an interview with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland portal that the target of 100 million doses set for 2021 had been reached. “But we must not stop there. We plan to donate at least another 75 million doses in the coming year,” she added.
Schulze said she agrees with Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) that this must not come at the expense of those German residents who want to be vaccinated. Therefore, the federal government wants to ensure the supply of vaccines for its own citizens, while donating more doses of COVID-19 to poorer countries. The development minister described the effects of the pandemic in these countries as “really brutal. Other diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis also have to be fought there. Poverty is increasing, hunger is spreading, and violence against women is on the rise. More human rights violations are also reported.
Schulze opposes release of Covid-19 vaccine patents
As the German Development Minister stressed, it is not only important to provide doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX initiative, but also to help with logistics. The vaccine should not only be administered to residents of large cities, but must also reach remote villages.
Schulze opposes calls to abolish vaccine patents. “I would be open to that if it would help us now. But the process of producing modern vaccines is so technically demanding and complicated that abolishing patents would not help at all,” – the German politician stated. In her view, what is needed is worldwide production – in cooperation with manufacturers. For example, Germany is helping to train specialists for the planned production of vaccines by Biontech in Rwanda, she stressed.
Source: www.zeit.de