Sadiq Khan calls on leading vaccine manufacturers to share Covid jab blueprints with world

Exclusive: Sadiq Khan, alongside mayors of New York and Johannesburg, urged companies ‘to do all you can’ to promote vaccine equity and ‘help stop the unnecessary loss of life’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called on the companies to ‘stop unnecessary loss of life’ (Getty Images)

The mayor of London has called upon the manufacturers behind two leading Covid vaccines to share the blueprints of their life-saving jabs with the rest of the world.

In a letter co-signed by Sadiq Khan and the mayors of New York and Johannesburg, the CEOs of Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech are urged “to do all you can” to promote vaccine equity and “help stop the unnecessary loss of life”.

Analysis from Oxfam International has shown that the companies are making nearly £1,000 in profits every second, with much of the world’s poorest countries yet to receive a single dose. Only 11 per cent of the African population had been fully vaccinated as of February 2022, according to the World Health Organisation.

The letter written by the three mayors calls on Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech to act to help demolish the health divide between rich and poor by sharing their vaccines recipes and technologies.

“The development of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines depended upon significant sums of public money,” wrote the authors of the letter, shared exclusively with The Independent.

“You have now made substantial and unprecedented profits and have a moral responsibility to do all you can to help stop the unnecessary loss of life.

“Low and middle-income countries can no longer afford for vaccines to be simply allocated to them. More companies and institutions, especially those in the Global South, must be enabled to produce the vaccine themselves, to boost supply and ensure more people are rapidly vaccinated.”

To date, some 10 billion doses have been distributed worldwide, but only 1 per cent have been administered in low-income countries, according to a study by the UN Development Programme. These nations include Haiti, Yemen, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A nurse prepares a Covid-19 vaccine to a person at the Palais des Sports vaccination centre in Yaounde, Cameroon. Only around 3 percent of the population of the country have been fully vaccinated, according to Reuters. (AFP via Getty Images)

The UN general secretary, Antonio Guterres, has labelled vaccine equity “the biggest moral test for the global community.”

The UNDP study indicates that if low-income countries had the same vaccination rate as high-income countries in September 2021 (around 54 per cent) they would have increased their GDP by £12.5 billion.

Based on company financial statements, the Oxfam International analysis estimates that Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna will, collectively, make £25 billion in pre-tax profits.

Mr Khan co-signed the letter as part of his role as the chair of C40 Cities, a global network of mayors taking action to confront the climate crisis.

He told The Independent: “I'm proud that mayors from across the world have come together to speak out in support of vaccine equity. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how unequal our societies are. The pandemic is not over yet and we know that those who live in the poorest areas are most likely to suffer disproportionately.

“Vaccines are lifesaving, and vaccine equity will be critical to the recovery from the pandemic and building a fairer, healthier and more prosperous future. None of us are safe until all of us are safe.”

Mr Khan, along with Eric Adams, mayor of New York, and Mpho Phalatse, the mayor of Johannesburg, wrote in their letter: “We urge your companies to do the right thing for global health, economic recovery and climate justice with immediate effect and share your technology. There is no time to lose if we are to save lives today and tomorrow.”

It comes after 300 scientists and public health experts urged Boris Johnson to prioritise and improve efforts to vaccinate the world’s population.

They warned officials that failing to do so will risk fueling the emergence of new coronavirus variants that could extend the pandemic.

There are still 3 billion people across the world who have not had their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while many rich countries have begun rolling our second booster jabs among their most vulnerable groups.

A spokesperson for Pfizer said: “Pfizer is firmly committed to equitable and affordable access to the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to help bring an end to the pandemic for everyone, everywhere.

“As of 27 March 2022, globally we have delivered more than 3.2 billion vaccines to 178 countries and territories in every region of the world.”

The Independent has approached Moderna and BioNTech for comment.