The inequity of Covid-19 vaccine distribution has come into sharp focus as many of the African countries whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots speak at the UN’s annual meeting of world leaders. Some call for member states to relax intellectual property rights in order to expand vaccine production.

“No one is safe unless we are all safe,” is the common refrain.

“The virus doesn’t know continents, borders, even less nationalities or social statuses,” Chad’s president Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, told the General Assembly. “The countries and regions that aren’t vaccinated will be a source of propagating and developing new variants of the virus. In this regard, we welcome the repeated appeals of the United Nations secretary general and the director general of the (World Health Organisation) in favor of access to the vaccine for all. The salvation of humanity depends on it.”

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