November 10, 2021
Today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and fellow foreign ministers are participating in a meeting to make specific, time-bound commitments and take concrete steps to end the COVID-19 crisis and build back from this pandemic.
But will they actually address the fundamental issues of COVID vaccine access and agree to invest in global manufacturing to address this pandemic and prepare better for the future?
These are exactly the issues that award-winning journalist Stephanie Nolen raised on our November 4th webinar, Reality check about “global” COVID-19 vaccine production. You can catch the conversation with Nolen in this recording, where she explores what she learned reporting her New York Times story, Here’s Why Developing Countries Can Make mRNA COVID Vaccines, and answers advocates’ questions. She was joined by Public’s Citizen’s Zain Rizvi in discussions about the powerful lessons learned from the fight for global equity in HIV treatment, and why the world cannot donate its way to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nolen lays out the arguments made by the pharmaceutical industry and details how each argument is answered from experts in the field. It’s a picture of a future where strong vaccine manufacturing capacity, established in every region of the world, supports vaccine equity, and a resilient global health system that is prepared for the next pandemic.
At AVAC, we consider the discussion essential listening, or reading.
Quick links to these and related resources
- Webinar recording: Reality check about “global” COVID-19 vaccine production
- Breaking the Bottlenecks to COVID-19 Access infographic
- AVAC’s recording archive of webinars on COVID-19