PRESS - The free market alone will not vaccinate the world.

The free market alone will not vaccinate the world.

The Catholic Medical Mission Board recently joined a coalition of over 40 Catholic organizations to promote vaccine equity as an “Act of Charity and Solidarity.” The Catholic Cares Coalition is calling for the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines among nations and among those Americans who have been hard to reach, including rural populations, immigrants, and inner-city and BIPOC communities. It is echoing the message of Pope Francis in his remarks at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meeting on April 7, when he called for “justly financed vaccine solidarity,” adding that “we cannot allow the law of the marketplace to take precedence over the law of love and the health of all.”

The reality of vaccine delivery to date is anything but equitable, with higher-income countries pursuing advance-purchasing arrangements for candidate vaccines with a speed that rivaled the hoarding of paper goods by households early in the pandemic—but with more dire consequences. According to the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, Canada led the pack by ordering enough doses to vaccinate 434 percent of its population. The United Kingdom was not far behind, with enough doses for 364 percent of its people, and the European Union and the United States captured enough doses to vaccinate 233 percent and 200 percent of their populations, respectively. (It is worth noting, however, that all these vaccines might not all be effective or approved for use, so countries were hedging their bets early in the purchasing frenzy.)

-Mary Beth Powers, Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) President and CEO

Click here to read the full article on America Magazine's website.