So many of us are looking forward with unbelievable relief to the Covid vaccine.
Not everyone is so lucky.
In fact, 90% of people in the lowest income countries likely won’t receive a vaccine in the next year -- because wealthy governments are buying up more than they need, and are blocking a WTO agreement that would make vaccines free for any country to develop.
It is inequality at its absolute peak.
But a network of brave healthcare workers and activists have started an official EU petition, called a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), to make our governments put people before Big Pharma profits.
If we can gather 1 million signatures, the pressure on EU politicians will be enormous to drop deadly patents on life-saving vaccines.
The ECI petition has to be backed by at least one million voting-age EU citizens, coming from at least 7 member states. A successful ECI petition guarantees us a right to a public hearing in the European Parliament, and compels the European Commission to spell out what action it will take in response.
Note: This is a little more complicated than usual though, because it is an official EU petition.
First sign with SumOfUs here so we can keep you updated. Then you can sign officially on the next page. Your government decides what information is requested and will use it to validate your signature (e.g. your place and date of birth). SumOfUs cannot access your data from that form -- it’s on the European Union’s official website.
More information
Médecins Sans Frontières. 15 December 2020.
Foreign Policy. 16 December 2020.
30 November 2020.