GI-ESCR is proud of formally joining the People’s Vaccine Alliance (PVA), a coalition of 60+ organizations & activists working to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are available to all, everywhere, as a global public commons.

To realise human rights, we need to re-think our commercialised system of knowledge production outside the current market logic which places profits over people’s health and lives. Open science, knowledge sharing and medical research which is publicly financed and delivered is vital to realise the right to health, including access to essential medicines, as well as the right to enjoy from the benefits of scientific progress.

The 5 steps for a People’s Vaccines are:

1. Agree and implement a global roadmap to herd immunity, with at least 60% of people across all countries offered a vaccine by the end of 2021 and a vaccine for all who need one by end of 2022.

2. Maximise the production of safe and effective vaccines and other COVID-19 products by suspending relevant intellectual property rules and ensuring the mandatory pooling of all COVID-19 related knowledge, data and technologies so that any nation can produce or buy sufficient and affordable doses of vaccines, treatments and tests.

3. Invest public funding now in a rapid and massive increase in vaccine manufacturing as well as research and development (R&D) capacity to build a global distributed network capable of and governed to deliver affordable vaccines as global public goods to all nations.

4. COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests are provided free of charge to everyone, everywhere, and allocated according to need.

5. Scale up sustainable investment in public health systems.