This site allows you to donate a sum to be used to vaccinate people in other countries as part of the Covax initiative.
All currencies accepted!
If you’ve been lucky enough to get yours, then perhaps help someone who can’t? And if you have refused to get one, then maybe also help someone who desperately wants one, but can’t? t
Looks a lovely idea, but the link seems rather short on detail of how and where the money’s actually going to be spent. For instance, as far as I understand in Central Africa there’s many countries with unused vaccine stocks because they either lack the infrastructure to distribute and administer them before they expire and/or there’s a local reluctance to be vaccinated.
Similarly, the waiving of vaccine patents wouldn’t solve the bulk of the problem as S Africa’s probably the only country on the whole continent able to execute the 14 different complex processes in vaccine manufacture (these opinions are via my my sister-in-law in Jo’burg, who’s a senior pharmaceutical fundi at Johnson & Johnson).
The Covax programme does seem to have thought of those points already
And while I am critical of the WHO in many areas, in this one I feel at least they are trying to achieve something meaningful. If I donate money for 100 doses and only a few of them actually get into people’s arms well that’s a few more than today.
One can always find reasons not to do things…
I’m sure they’re ‘trying to achieve something meaningful’ and I certainly don’t want to discourage donations, but it’s not very clear to me from your link where the money’s actually going.
Not everyone can do this, but I’d rather donate direct to local South African charities that I know and trust rather than to the WHO who operate through governmental intermediaries.
Yes, for many things giving to local organisations is effective. However I think useful to have a heavier weight organisation negotiating with the pharmaceutical companies and governments. It’s not either/or.
So put on your colander, hum a tune, invoke the flying spaghetti monster and send good vibes with a few shakes of a feather duster instead.
Or there’s Unicef : #dosedespoir | UNICEF
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So put on your colander, hum a tune, invoke the flying spaghetti monster and send good vibes with a few shakes of a feather duster instead.
Please tell me that’s not really how you and your friends celebrate the run-up to Christmas!
Seriously though, what’s so weird about preferring to give to highly focussed local charities and pressure groups that are close to your ideals, rather than anonymous global organisations that in any case get their fundng from national governments through the mediation of the UN?
Not knocking the latter, and I don’t want to argue against it , in fact I hope many SF people respond generously to Jane’s post, but nevertheless, it’s not for me because there’s so much waste and corruption at government level in in virtually every country in sub-Saharan Africa (where presumably most of the aid will be directed). That’s why in this context for me, local is lekker.