Sign the Declaration for #VaccinEquity

At this pivotal moment in the pandemic and ahead of the G7 meeting this week, I’m writing to ask you and your organization to sign this WHO declaration calling on leaders to start vaccinating health workers and those at high risk of COVID-19 in all countries within the first 100 days of 2021.

Health and care workers are the backbone of health systems, and have been at the forefront of the COVID response for more than a year: often under-protected and over-exposed. Thanks to unprecedented scientific efforts, vaccines are now being distributed in more than 80 countries, with health workers in those places rightly among those first in line. But in many low- and middle-income countries, vaccination has not even started—a catastrophe as hospitals fill up, and yet another example of systemic inequity at work.

This must change, and fast. The best way to end this pandemic, protect everyone and uphold our commitment to Health for All is to vaccinate quickly and equitably, starting with health workers wherever they live. This includes scaling up vaccine manufacturing and rejecting vaccine nationalism at every turn.

Make your voice heard:

1 Sign the declaration here: who.int/vaccinequity

2 Spread the word on social media using the hashtag #VaccinEquity and this social media toolkit.

◦ Don’t have time? Click here for a ready-made tweet.

When you sign on, you will be standing alongside thousands of others, including leaders like Dr. Tedros of WHO; organizations like Nursing Now, UNDP, the Pandemic Action Network, Women in Global Health, the International Pediatric Association, and the Global Institute for Disease Elimination; and even high-profile athletes including Romain Grosjean.

The record-breaking pace of COVID-19 vaccine development shows that where there is will, there is a way. If people everywhere demand #VaccinEquity, it can be done.