Higgins urges wider distribution of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries

President Michael D Higgins has called for countries to show solidarity and distribute Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations so they are "available, accessible and affordable for all".

In a video address released to mark International Workers’ Day, the president said society had been “found wanting” in aspects of offering solidarity during the pandemic.

“Solidarity, in an inter-dependent world, must mean . . . standing shoulder to shoulder with those in other countries, especially poorer nations with fewer financial resources, so that, for example, vaccines are made available, accessible and affordable for all.

“The means of responding to pandemics must be regarded as resources that constitute global public goods . . . our actions must match our words, or we lose credibility.”

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Mr Higgins warned that the failure to enact a global, equitable response to the pandemic does not bode well for future global crises such as climate change.

“Traditional markets have acknowledged that they cannot deliver at the scale needed to cover the entire globe.

“Solidarity within and between countries and the co-operation of the private sector in what are entirely new circumstances is essential if we are to overcome the challenges presented to us by Covid-19, and in particular with regard to accessing appropriate medical treatments.”

Mr Higgins also said society still faces many challenges in relation to securing and promoting workers’ rights.

“May Day through the generations has always been one of the great moral days, a day of invitation to envisage collective welfare, and joy too,” he said.

“For workers all over the world, it provides an opportunity of celebrating the progress made – acknowledging the tireless efforts, in different circumstances, of workers and trade union activists – on making our workplaces spaces that reflect the dignity of work, and safer places of collective experience.”

The President said that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, workers rights have to be viewed in a global context.

“We are marking May Day – International Workers’ Day, in 2021, for the second time in the circumstances of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic is a crisis that has tested our authenticity when we speak of mutual solidarity. It has laid bare many of the dire consequences of both existing economic inequalities and widespread inadequacies in social protection that are a great scar on our humanity.”

He added that the threat of famine currently affects 34 million people on Earth, and poverty at a global level is increasing, even in developed societies.

“We have had global crises before and come through. We must not sacrifice hope or commitment in our efforts to emerging from Covid-19.

“Surely, however, we must not just survive. We must change. That change must be a deep change if we are not to keep simply failing better than before.”

The president said that in a post-Covid world, societies have a unique opportunity to eradicate inequality.

“The question that arises now is as to whether, when we mark May Day next year, in a post-Covid setting, will our society be any different? Will we still be faced with profound inequality, the absence of universal basic services at global level?

“Or will we have used the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the fundamental questions it has posed about our lives?”

He warned against extreme individualism and the “insatiable colonisation of market forces that seek to control so much of life”.

The President also noted the particular sacrifices made by carers during the pandemic.

“Our definition of work must change, must evolve and widen, to incorporate the important role of caring and carers as essential workers; workers far too long undervalued by society, as their efforts were not valued as marketable skills.

“We have the opportunity, in responding to Covid-19, to do everything in a new way, in a fairer, socially cohesive, ecologically responsible, and fulfilling way.”