Underlining the importance of vaccines against ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Ri9cha Chadha has joined the cause. She joined People’s vaccine campaign for a global call for the pharmaceutical companies to suspend the patents on Covid-19 vaccines and boost vaccinations all over the world, not just in rich countries.
The People’s Vaccine movement is backed by hundreds of high-profile personalities such as Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Prince Harry & Meghan, Malala, Gordon Brown, Ratan Tata, George Clooney, Stephen Fry, Annie Lennox, Trevor Noah, Richard Branson, Forest Whitaker, Prof Muhammad Yunus, and Mark Ruffalo.
Only 2% of vaccines already produced have made it to low-income countries while 87% have vaccinated millions of people in rich countries. Richa says, “I am in support of the People’s Vaccine movement because I feel charging money for vaccines will deter many and make the vaccine less accessible. Make no mistake, we’re all in this together.”
She adds, “To be protected from coronavirus, no matter where we live in the world, we must vaccinate our entire population or the virus will keep traveling, mutating and rendering existing vaccines irrelevant. It is not possible to stop international travel altogether. Suspending the patents is the least we can do. Through this petition, we need to maintain and build public pressure for the same change to occur. For this reason, I urge you all to sign it too, because this is a change that could positively impact the lives of millions of Indians.”