The new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is a wake-up call.

It’s a grim reminder that there’s no walling themselves off from the virus. To end the pandemic, we must vaccinate the whole world.

Scientists have been warning for months that leaving large parts of the world unvaccinated would dramatically increase the risk of newer, deadlier and more transmissible variants emerging. And yet, for more than a year, Canada and other nations have been blocking efforts to increase access to vaccines.

A handful of pharmaceutical companies have used their vaccine monopoly to make stupendous profits while locking out nearly half of humanity, mostly in lower-income countries, from their first dose. The distribution of doses is so lopsided that the World Health Organization has called it “vaccine apartheid.”

Canada has the capacity to do so much more: we could support efforts to share the vaccine formula with other countries, manufacture made-in-Canada generic vaccines, and donate surplus doses instead of hoarding them.

Unfortunately, the Trudeau government has often placed the interests of Big Pharma’s vaccine monopolists ahead of saving lives.

On December 12, join us for a virtual town hall to discuss how people in Canada can contribute to the global fight against vaccine apartheid.

What: All I want for Christmas is… vaccine justice!

When: Sunday, December 12th at 2pm

Where: On Streamyard. To register please click here

The town hall will include speakers from a large coalition of Canadian and international organizations fighting for a People’s Vaccine, including:

  • Benjamin Blanco, Vice-Minister for Foreign Trade and Integration, Government of Bolivia
  • Niki Ashton, NDP MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski
  • Angella MacEwen, Senior Economist, Canadian Union of Public Employees
  • Nikolas Barry-Shaw, Trade and Privatization Campaigner, Council of Canadians
  • John Fulton, President, BioNiagara
  • Luis Gil Abinader, Senior Researcher, Knowledge Ecology International
  • Brittany Lambert, Women’s Rights Policy Specialist, Oxfam Canada
  • Raul Burbano, Program Director, Common Frontiers

The speakers will discuss different aspects of the struggle for vaccine justice, from the fight for a waiver on vaccine patents at the WTO to Biolyse Pharma’s attempts to produce a generic, made-in-Canada vaccine for Bolivia. This will be followed by questions and a strategizing session with registered participants on how to build the movement for a People’s Vaccine.