當澳門政府為本澳市民預留了充足的新冠疫苗，並有提供三種選項由接種人士自願選擇，世界各地正為解決疫苗分配不平等問題感到煩惱。
近日，法國總統馬克龍敦促歐洲和美國緊急向非洲發展中國家撥出高達5%的疫苗。同時，世衛組織總幹事譚德塞博士也警告說，由於不平等的新冠疫苗政策，世界正面臨著 「災難性的道德失敗」。
現有的疫苗由英國、美國、歐洲、俄羅斯和中國生產，已經被世界各國購買，並得到了廣泛的應用。可是，各國之間的劑量並不是平均分配的，尤其是在貧窮國家特別明顯。
數據顯示，世界上一半以上的供應量只留給了15%的人口。 較富裕的國家目前持有確認的42億劑量，而貧窮國家只持有6.7億劑量。另一數據顯示，只有10個國家接種了75%的疫苗，然而，有130多個國家沒有接種一劑疫苗。
因此，為了消除這種不平等，保證世界各地能公平地獲得COVID-19疫苗，流行病防備創新聯盟（CEPI）、全球疫苗聯盟（GAVI）和世界衛生組織（WHO）牽頭發起了COVAX全球倡議。
至今為止，已有180多個國家簽署了COVAX倡議，COVAX的主要任務是為所有國家尋找有效的疫苗，支持國家生產疫苗的能力以及購買存貨，以保證到2021年底，20億劑疫苗可以公平分配。
只有每個人都安全了，整個世界才會安全。
[Inequality in Vaccine Distribution]
While the Macau government has reserved an abundant supply of the vaccine for our citizens, with three options for voluntary selection, the world is struggling to address the inequality of vaccine distribution.
Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe and the US to urgently allocate up to 5 per cent of vaccines to developing countries in Africa. At the same time, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, has also warned that the world is facing a “catastrophic moral failure” because of unequal Covid-19 vaccine policies.
Since the vaccines were produced in the UK, US, Europe, Russia and China, they are already being widely used, having been bought up and approved in countries around the world. However, doses are not shared equally between countries and this is particularly evident in poor countries.
It is stated that more than half of the world’s supply has been reserved for just 15% of its population. High-income countries currently hold a confirmed 4.2 billion doses, while low-middle income nations hold only 670 million. Another figure shows that only 10 countries have administered 75% of all vaccines; yet, more than 130 countries have not received a single dose.
Therefore, in order to eliminate the inequality and guarantee fair access to Covid-19 vaccines, a global initiative COVAX led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Global Vaccine Alliance and World Health Organization was launched.
Up to now, more than 180 countries have signed up for the COVAX initiative. The main mission of COVAX is searching for an effective vaccine for all countries, supporting the building of manufacturing capabilities and buying supply, so that 2 billion doses can be fairly distributed by the end of 2021.
The whole world will only be safe when everyone is safe.
(Source: BBC, Financial Times / Photo: ©BBC)
