Nine out of 10 in poorer countries set to miss out on Covid jabs as richer nations hoard vaccines

An alliance of charities has called for technology and intellectual property to be shared to allow billions more doses to be manufactured, Samuel Osborne reports

‘Rich nations are stockpiling vaccines at the expense of supplies for the rest of the world,’ charities claim  (Reuters)

Rich countries have hoarded enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations against Covid-19 nearly three times over, while nine in 10 people in poorer countries are set to miss jabs next year, campaigners have cautioned.

As the UK begins to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus, a group of organisations has highlighted that rich nations representing just 14 per cent of the world's population have ordered 53 per cent of all of the most promising vaccines.

The organisations, including Oxfam, Amnesty International, Global Justice Now and Frontline AIDS, have formed an alliance to call for a People's Vaccine and to demand governments and pharmaceutical corporations openly share their technology and intellectual property to allow billions more doses to be manufactured and made available to all who need them.