Global deaths from COVID-19 have now passed 4 million: Oxfam reaction

Responding to the news that the number of global deaths from COVID-19 has now passed 4 million, Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s health Policy Manager and spokesperson for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said:

“This is a horrific milestone and each one of these lives lost is a tragedy. Many of these deaths could have been prevented had the successful vaccine science been shared and production of doses ramped up by more manufacturers across the world. 

“People are dying in large numbers in countries without enough health workers or ventilators to save them and vaccine stocks have run dry. We will see many more needless deaths, especially in developing countries which are being hit by a third wave of the deadly disease, unless vaccines are produced on a much bigger scale, more quickly and at much lower prices. 

“Pharmaceutical corporations are making eye watering profits but are refusing to share the vaccine science and know-how.

“We urge the leaders of countries like the UK and Germany to support the waiver of trade rules that would allow developing countries to make their own vaccines, so that everyone, no matter where they live, can share the hope of a future free from COVID.”