{"id":183,"date":"2021-02-03T09:56:08","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T09:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peoplesvaccine.org\/?page_id=183"},"modified":"2023-05-04T13:04:10","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T12:04:10","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/peoplesvaccine.org\/faq\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQ"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the People\u2019s Vaccine Alliance?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The People\u2019s Vaccine Alliance is a coalition of organisations and activists united under a common aim of campaigning for a \u2018people\u2019s vaccine\u2019 for COVID-19. This would be based on shared knowledge and freely available to everyone everywhere – a global common good. The alliance\u2019s members include Free the Vaccine, Global Justice Now, Public Citizen, the Yunus Centre, Frontline AIDS, Amnesty International, Oxfam, SumOfUs and UNAIDS. The call for a #PeoplesVaccine is backed by past and present world leaders, health experts, faith leaders and economists. Click on our ‘Supporters’ page to see a full list.<\/p>\n

Are intellectual property and patents the only barrier to mass production of any vaccine? <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Pharmaceutical corporations use patents and other intellectual property rights to stop other companies from making the vaccines or medicines they have developed. We are saying that in these unprecedented times, companies should share their knowledge and not enforce intellectual property rights in the interests of public health.<\/p>\n

But intellectual property is not the only barrier. Vaccines are not as straightforward as many other medicines to copy and many are made of biological material. Therefore, it is important that corporations and research institutions\u00a0 also share the know-how, biological material and technology behind their vaccine with other companies that could manufacture them. We have seen some bilateral examples of this. For example,\u00a0 Astra Zeneca has licensed production to companies in India, Brazil and in Argentina. However, this process should not be left to the goodwill of individual corporations or subject to secretive deals. The WHO COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) provides a global mechanism for such sharing. The C-TAP can promote technology transfer and the licensing of production to more companies and institutions that are able to manufacture safe and effective vaccines in order to maximise supply.<\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t there already knowledge-sharing initiatives such as Covax?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Covax is an initiative led by three global organisations: Gavi; Cepi; and the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is currently the only global mechanism for pooling demand for COVID-19 vaccines to try and secure access for poorer countries. While it is encouraging that at least 170 countries have agreed to work together, rich countries continue to cut bilateral supply deals with pharmaceutical companies which undermine this global effort and limit supply to poorer nations. So far Covax has not been transparent about the deals it is making with pharmaceutical companies and remains silent on how it will tackle monopolies. Covax lacks transparency on decision-making and developing countries have not been involved in strategic decisions. Civil society has also been excluded from decision-making processes.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Covax does not use its purchasing power to push corporations to share the science, knowledge and technology behind their vaccines, which could lead to scaled up production. We are also deeply concerned that Covax is considering a tiered pricing model that would mean many middle-income countries, already facing economic turmoil and with under-resourced health systems, may not be able to afford the vaccine or would be forced deeper into debt.<\/p>\n

For Covax to succeed it must:<\/p>\n