At the current pace, millions of people in the Global South will not get access to the vaccine for years. This is not only a human rights crisis, it’s also a threat to the safety of Global North residents and the entire global economy. The Delta Variant that has led to an 80% increase in deaths in Africa and causing devastating surges in the Global North, is just the first of many examples.

Public experts have reached consensus about a set of policies that would address the root cause of the virus: Lower barriers to production, share the recipes for the vaccines, and fund manufacturing hubs around the world.

These are common sense solutions, and we had a historic victory to achieve this agenda. On May 5 we won US government support for the TRIPS Waiver that lowers barriers to vaccine production in the Global South. After organizing rallies around the country, virtual events that engaged tens of thousands, and congressional outreach, our broad coalition pushed the US government to change its position.

Yet, this was only a partial win and we still need billions more vaccines to truly end the pandemic. The problem is that the pharmaceutical industry has been spending record amounts of money to fight equitable public health measures and maintain the status quo. Their pressure has created a political impasse, with world leaders dragging their feet on implementing the TRIPS waiver and the other common sense measures.

Join us for an interfaith teach-in to learn more about this issue and the ways that faith communities can plug into DC area actions to ensure we get vaccines for all.