UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee (IBC) and the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) have called for a change of course in current COVID-19 vaccination strategies, urging that vaccines be treated as a global public good to ensure they are made equitably available in all countries, and not only to those who bid the highest for these vaccines. Both committees have a long track record in providing ethical guidance on sensitive issues*.
The statement was presented during an online event on 24 February, which gathered UNESCO’s ethics bodies together with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Jeffrey Sachs from Columbia University, and Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO. See: https://shar.es/aoypEg
Peter-Paul Verbeek 