With pandemic restrictions easing across Canada, a House of Commons committee was warned today that disruptive new variants of COVID-19 will continue to emerge every few months unless the low vaccination rate in poorer countries rises.
The message was delivered to the Commons foreign affairs committee by the head of Gavi, the international organization leading the distribution of vaccines to the developing world, and a senior United Nations Children's Agency official.
Lily Caprani, the head of global health, vaccines and pandemic response for UNICEF, said it is in the "enlightened self-interest" of countries such as Canada to increase vaccination rates everywhere, otherwise there will be a continuing cycle of new variants emerging. They cited a range of factors from damaged or inadequate health-care systems to vaccine hesitancy, to a lack of health-care workers and basic supplies, such as syringes, to inject vaccines into willing arms.
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson told the committee she did not want to see rich countries cut back on their overall international development spending as they roll out fourth doses for their own populations. AstraZeneca president Kiersten Combs said her company initially made its vaccine available at "no profit through the height of the crisis" before moving to a "tiered pricing" practice later on.
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