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PARAMARIBO — Sajifra Soepar en Elgin Piqué hebben onder de bestgeslaagden de Rotary VOJ Student Excellence Award 2022 gewonnen voor
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Tropical Storm Nicole forced people from their homes in the Bahamas and threatened to grow into a rare November hurricane in Florida on Wednesday, shutting down airports and Disney World as well as prompting evacuation orders that included former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
Hundreds of people sought shelter in the northwestern Bahamas before the approaching storm, which had already sent seawater washing across roads on Hutchinson Island in Martin County, Florida.
“We are forecasting it to become a hurricane as it nears the northwestern Bahamas, and remain a hurricane as it approaches the east coast of Florida,” Daniel Brown, a senior hurricane specialist at the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, said Wednesday.
Nicole is the first storm to hit the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that devastated the archipelago in 2019, before hitting storm-weary Florida.
In the Bahamas, officials said that more than 520 people were in more than two dozen shelters. Flooding and power outages were reported in Abaco island.
“We are asking people to please take it (seriously),” said Andrea Newbold with the Disaster Management Unit for Social Services. “Don’t wait until the last minute.”
Residents in several Florida counties — Flagler, Palm Beach, Martin and Volusia — were ordered to evacuate from barrier islands, low-lying areas and mobile homes.
Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s club and home, is in one of those evacuation zones, built about a quarter-mile inland from the ocean. The main buildings sit on a small rise that is about 15 feet (4.6 metres) above sea level and the property has survived numerous stronger hurricanes since it was built nearly a century ago. The resort’s security office hung up Wednesday when an Associated Press reporter asked whether the club was being evacuated.
There is no penalty for ignoring an evacuation order, but rescue crews will not respond if it puts their members at risk.
Disney World and related theme parks announced they were closing early on Wednesday evening and likely would not reopen as scheduled on Thursday.
Palm Beach International Airport closed Wednesday morning, and Daytona Beach International Airport said it would cease operations at 12:30 pm Orlando International Airport, the seventh busiest in the US, was set to close at 4 pm. Wednesday. Further south, officials said Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Miami International Airport were experiencing some flight delays and cancellations but both planned to remain open.
At a news conference in Tallahassee, Governor Ron DeSantis said winds were the biggest concern and significant power outages could occur, but that 16,000 linemen were on standby to restore power, as well as 600 guardsmen and seven search and rescue teams.
“It will affect huge parts of the state of Florida all day,” DeSantis said of the storm’s expected landing.
Almost two dozen school districts were closing schools for the storm and 15 shelters had opened along Florida’s east coast, the governor said.
Florida Division of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie said Floridians should expect possible tornadoes, rip currents and flash flooding.
Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis, who is at the COP27 UN Climate Summit, said he has mobilised all government resources.
“There have always been storms, but as the planet warms from carbon emissions, storms are growing in intensity and frequency,” he said. “For those in Grand Bahama and Abaco, I know it is especially difficult for you to face another storm,” Davis said, referring to the islands hardest hit by Dorian.
At 10 am, the storm was 25 miles (40 kilometres) east northeast of Great Abaco Island and about 210 miles (340 kilometres) east of West Palm Beach, Florida. With maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), the storm was moving at 12 mph (19 kph).
Tropical storm force winds extended as far as 460 miles (740 kilometres) from the centre in some directions.
It could intensify into a rare November hurricane before hitting Florida, where only two have made landfall since recordkeeping began in 1853 — the 1935 Yankee Hurricane and Hurricane Kate in 1985.
New warnings and watches were issued for many parts of Florida, including the southwestern Gulf coastline which was devastated by Hurricane Ian, which struck as a Category 4 storm on September 28. The storm destroyed homes and damaged crops, including orange groves, across the state.
Ian lashed much of the central region of Florida with heavy rainfall, causing flooding that many residents are still dealing with as Nicole approaches.
In Florida, the “combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the hurricane center’s advisory said.
Hurricane specialist Brown said the storm will affect a large part of the state.
“Because the system is so large, really almost the entire east coast of Florida except the extreme southeastern part and the Keys is going to receive tropical storm force winds,” he said.
The storm is then expected to move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia on Thursday, forecasters said. It was then forecast to move across the Carolinas on Friday.
“We are going to be concerned with rainfall as we get later into the week across portions of the southeastern United States and southern Appalachians, where there could be some flooding, flash flooding with that rainfall,” Brown said.
Early Wednesday, President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Florida and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal and local response efforts to the approaching storm. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is still responding to those in need from Hurricane Ian.
Subscribe to BiP’s Weather Channel for timely weather updates. Click here to download the BiP app or simply click here to follow the Weather Channel for existing customers.
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By FREIDA FRISARO and DANICA COTO Associated Press
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press reporters Zeke Miller in Washington, DC, and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
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This photo shows the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services’s new cheques with updated security features aimed at stopping or reducing incidences of fraud. PHOTO COURTESY MINISTRY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT –
About $50 million in public grant funding was lost to fraud in fiscal 2021-2022, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) learnt Wednesday at a hearing chaired by Oropouche West MP Davendranath Tancoo.
Replying to a question sent in by a member of the public as read out by Tancoo, Ministry of Social Development and Family Services (MSDFS) permanent secretary Jacqueline Johnson gave the estimate of loss as “about $50 million.”
She said, “I’m not certain of that figure, chairman, because we do not have any system of finding an accurate figure.
“We might be in a position to determine that when our investigation unit has done a more comprehensive review of the system.”
Tancoo said $50 million was a substantial sum and asked by when would investigations allow losses to be known exactly.
He urged, “We’d want to target the elimination of that sort of activity because it deprives those most in need.”
Johnson replied, “That is a priority for us, given the volume of records that have to be considered.”
She referred the PAC to Rhonda Francis, head, Investigation and Compliance Unit. Tancoo allowed her to submit the information in writing at a future date.
Tancoo asked about the auditor general’s report noting 108 cases where a senior citizens grant was given to recipients age 27-64, (when the qualifying age was 65.)
“How could a 24 year-old or a 25 year-old end up benefiting?” he asked the MSDFS staff.
Johnson replied that at first the ministry had suspected fraud but later found it to be due to data input errors.
Francis said, “We investigated 61 instances thus far. We’ve found 49 instances on input error. For example, if a person was born in 1939, there was an input error of 1993.
“We still have the others that are under investigation at present.”
Tancoo asked how many of the 108 had been illegitimately receiving funds.
Francis replied,”We have not found any illegitimately receiving. We have been able to clearly identify that 49 were input errors and we are still investigating the others.”
Tancoo said, “So that means you still have some 50-odd persons to investigate.”
Johnson said eight employees were under suspension (with pay) for suspected fraud, of whom one was has been dismissed, with several fraudulent claimants being reported to the police.
Tancoo asked at what level had these employees been employed, only to be told the issue straddled many levels of staffing.
Johnson admitted to challenges in cleaning up the ministry’s records and in digitising such data.
She said many client documents must be filed at the ministry, with a wide raft of benefits on offer, adding to the complexity of changing over a paper-based system of records to a digital format.
“There’s a lot of challenges in the data cleansing process. It’s over 200,000 files.
“It’s a pretty broad clean-up and digitisation system.”
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Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal. –
Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal has accused National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds of recommending several people for firearms users’ licences (FULs). Hinds has denied the allegation.
During Wednesday’s sitting of the Joint Select Committee on National Security, addressing the
factors contributing to the prevalence of illegal firearms and gun violence, Moonilal asked Hinds whether he would agree that prime ministers and ministers of government should not be recommending private citizens for FULs.
“The former commissioner of police is on record as saying that very high-ranking officials, including Fitzgerald Hinds and myself, requested or recommended people for obtaining an FUL. Would you agree to a shift that PMs, MPs, and goverment ministers should not be recommending private citizens for FULs?”
Hinds said and reiterated that he did not remember recommending anyone for an FUL.
“I want the record to read that I recommended no-one for a firearm users’ licence.”
Moonilal later sent photos to the media of a WhatsApp conversation, purportedly between former police commissioner Gary Griffith and Hinds. The first message read,
“Commissioner, I have a couple FUL applications for my security detail of soldiers. There is no objection from their warrant officer and the TTDF. I have watched them now for two years and I am satisfied that they are fit and worthy. They rotate with the CJ’s detail as well. Please give them your most favourable consideration. Should I send them directly to you.”
The response was “Yeah, just WhatsApp me full name with reference number.”
Several other messages followed in which Hinds purportedly followed up on these applications.
When the messages were forwarded to Griffith for comment, he said Hinds, the PM, and the current police commissioner were being hypocritical in their stance on FULs.
“These three people give the impression that recommending people to have firearms or law-abiding citizens acquiring firearms is the worst thing, but these three individuals cannot, in any way, state that they were not instrumental or a part of trying to assist many people in acquiring firearms.
“I have no issue with that at all, because it is your right to recommend people to the police commissioner or whoever, and then it is that you will do due diligence to ascertain if the people are eligible, entitled, and of sound body and mind to acquire it.”
Asked whether the photos were of his conversations with Hinds, Griffith said, “No comment.”
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INGEZONDEN In reactie op de door de president uitgesproken jaarrede, hebben ook dit jaar de algemene politieke beschouwingen plaatsgevonden in
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Les espoirs républicains d’une “vague” au Congrès américain semblaient s’éloigner mercredi, les démocrates espérant pouvoir limiter la casse lors d’élections de mi-mandat tout aussi décisives pour l’avenir politique de Joe Biden…
Les espoirs républicains d’une “vague” au Congrès américain semblaient s’éloigner mercredi, les démocrates espérant pouvoir limiter la casse lors d’élections de mi-mandat tout aussi décisives pour l’avenir politique de Joe Biden que celui de son rival Donald Trump.
Le démocrate John Fetterman a arraché aux républicains le siège le plus disputé de ce scrutin, le poste de sénateur de Pennsylvanie, face à un candidat adoubé par le milliardaire républicain, selon des projections des médias américains.
Cette première victoire du camp de Joe Biden, dans une soirée extrêmement tendue marquée par un laborieux dépouillement des suffrages, offrait aux démocrates l’espoir de conserver le contrôle du Sénat, chambre où les républicains avaient jusqu’ici un léger avantage dans les sondages.
Elle alimentait aussi les spéculations autour de la possibilité que le raz-de-marée conservateur à la Chambre des représentants, promis par Donald Trump, soit en réalité bien plus limité que prévu.
“Il est clair que nous allons reprendre la Chambre des représentants”, a affirmé le ténor républicain Kevin McCarthy dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi.
Cette hypothèse reste la plus probable.
Mais le parti, à qui l’on prêtait jusqu’à peu une percée de 10, 25, voire 30 sièges, se voit obligé de revoir ses ambitions à la baisse.
“Ce n’est certainement pas une vague républicaine, ça c’est sûr”, a estimé l’influent sénateur Lindsey Graham, un proche de Donald Trump, sur NBC.
L’ancien président s’était jeté à corps perdu dans la campagne pour les élections de mi-mandat, misant sur le succès de ses lieutenants pour se lancer sous les meilleurs auspices dans la course à la présidentielle 2024. Il a promis “une très grande annonce” le 15 novembre.
Aux premières heures mercredi, le milliardaire de 76 ans a de nouveau assuré que les républicains vivaient une “super soirée” électorale, accusant les démocrates et les médias “fake news” de tout faire pour minimiser les succès de ses protégés.
En menant une campagne acharnée sur l’inflation, J.D Vance, l’un des poulains de Donald Trump, a en effet décroché le poste très convoité de sénateur dans l’Ohio — un des bastions industriels et agricoles de l’Amérique.
Le contrôle du Sénat est lui donc désormais suspendu à quatre sièges: l’Arizona, la Géorgie, le Nevada et le Wisconsin. Le comptage de ces voix pourrait nécessiter plusieurs jours.
En attendant de voir où basculait le Congrès américain, l’attention se portait aussi sur les élections aux postes de gouverneurs. Et en particulier sur la Floride, où le gouverneur sortant Ron DeSantis a été réélu de manière triomphale.
Etoile montante du camp conservateur, possible prétendant à la Maison Blanche en 2024, il s’est félicité dans un discours offensif d’avoir fait de cet Etat du sud, longtemps considéré comme penchant tantôt à gauche, tantôt à droite, une “terre promise” pour les républicains, où “l’idéologie +woke+ vient mourir”.
“Je ne fais que commencer le combat”, a promis le gouverneur âgé de 44 ans.
De quoi titiller son potentiel rival à l’investiture et autre résident de Floride… l’ancien président Donald Trump.
Mais sur ce terrain aussi, le camp démocrate ne restait pas bredouille. Il a arraché aux conservateurs deux postes de gouverneurs aux républicains: dans le Maryland et le Massachusetts, où Maura Healey sera la première lesbienne à la tête d’un Etat. Joe Biden l’a d’ailleurs appelée immédiatement pour la féliciter.
Le parti du dirigeant démocrate de 79 ans s’est aussi épargné une grosse frayeur en conservant le contrôle de l’Etat de New York, où les républicains croyaient être en mesure de déloger la gouverneure Kathy Hochul.
Le camp de Joe Biden n’avait pas non plus dit son dernier mot dans l’Arizona, où le dénouement de la course entre la trumpiste Kari Lake donnée favorite, et la démocrate Katie Hobbs se faisait attendre.
bur-cjc-aue/dax/
Des partisans de la candidate républicaine Kari Lake lors de sa soirée électorale dans l’Arizona, mardi 8 novembre 2022
• Olivier Touron
La gouverneur de New York, réélue mardi, à Bronxville, dans son Etat le 6 novembre 2022
• SAUL LOEB
John Fetterman, candidat démocrate en Pennsylvanie, le 26 octobre 2022
• Branden EASTWOOD
Donald Trump (G) et le candidat républicain J.D. Vance dans l’Ohio, le 7 novembre 2022
• Megan JELINGER
Le Capitole, siège du Congrès américain, le 8 novembre 2022 à Washington
• Stefani Reynolds
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Après un report inédit en raison de la météo, les 138 marins engagés sur la Route du Rhum se sont lancés mercredi au large de Saint-Malo à l’assaut de l’Atlantique, pour une traversée en solitaire que les plus rapides devraient effectuer en un temps record de six jours.
Au coup de canon à 14h15, les skippers -131 hommes et sept femmes- ont mis le cap toutes voiles dehors sur la Guadeloupe, sous un soleil radieux.
Une heure après le départ, Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), favori, a franchi le premier la bouée du Cap Fréhel (Côtes d’Armor), où des milliers de personnes étaient massées sur les rochers de grès rose pour acclamer les voiliers.
Mais il a passé la ligne de départ trop tôt, a-t-on appris auprès de la direction de course, et devrait en conséquence recevoir une pénalité de 4 heures à décider sous 48 heures, selon le règlement.
Sur l’eau, Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) et François Gabart (SVR Lazartigue) étaient à sa poursuite. Tous trois sont à la barre de voiliers de la classe Ultim, des trimarans de 32 m de long capables de voler sur l’eau grâce à des appendices latéraux (foils).
Ces F1 des mers peuvent prétendre établir un nouveau record de traversée, détenu depuis 2018 par le vétéran Francis Joyon (7 jours 14 heures 21 minutes), également au départ cette année avec son trimaran Idec Sport.
En 2018, baptême du feu de ces voiliers volants, la classe avait connu beaucoup de casse. Mais, depuis, “on a beaucoup travaillé sur la sécurité, la fiabilité (…). On a tous progressé et on va plus vite”, a promis Le Cléac’h, qui avait chaviré après deux jours de course il y a quatre ans et avait été secouru par un bateau de pêche.
Cette année, “cela va être rapide pour aller jusqu’en Guadeloupe, le sprint sur l’Atlantique annoncé devrait être au rendez-vous”, a prédit Le Cléac’h.
Les prévisions météorologiques annoncent de bonnes conditions jusqu’à jeudi soir, où la flotte devrait affronter une première dépression marquée par des rafales de vent à plus de 90 km/h.
François Gabart, 39 ans, revient à la course en solitaire à bord d’un Ultim controversé mis à l’eau l’année dernière, qu’il a conçu entièrement.
“J’ai envie de gagner, je me sens capable de gagner (…). Mais naviguer à bord de ce bateau n’est pas une pression supplémentaire, c’est une source de motivation. J’en suis un peu amoureux de mon bateau et j’ai très envie qu’il vive une belle Route du Rhum”, a expliqué le deuxième de la précédente édition, à sept petites minutes de Francis Joyon.
Sur l’eau, la flotte, mélange de professionnels et d’amateurs, est composée de six catégories de bateaux: des petits monocoques ayant participé à la première édition, aux multicoques volant de dernière génération.
Comme Caudrelier, 16 autres navires de différentes catégories ont franchi la ligne de départ avant le coup de canon. Le navigateur britannique Sam Goodchild (Leyton), à la barre d’un trimaran Ocean Fifty, a lui été blessé et “transféré sur un bateau” de la SNSM, a annoncé son équipe dans un communiqué.
Derrière les Ultim, 38 voiliers de la flotte d’Imoca, les monocoques (18 m) du Vendée Globe, le célèbre tour du monde en solitaire, affichent de belles ambitions. Charlie Dalin (Apivia) et Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), à bord des bateaux les plus éprouvés, peuvent espérer traverser l’Atlantique en 10 ou 11 jours.
Grande première dans l’histoire de la célèbre course quadriennale, le départ, prévu initialement dimanche, avait été reporté à cause des très mauvaises conditions météorologiques.
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Reoccupation of the main building at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, St James is expected to begin on a phased basis next year.
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, made the disclosure while giving an update on the progress of renovation works on the multi-storey Type A health facility during the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (MBCCI) MoBay Expo 2022 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James on November 4.
Tufton said he is satisfied with the progress of repair works done over the last six months.
“From six months ago to now, I am a lot more confident in terms of the progress being made, and we do expect over the next year, the phased reoccupation of that facility,” he said.
The minister, during his contribution to the 2022-2023 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives in May, said work under Phases 1 and 2A of the rehabilitation programme had been completed at a cost of $1.3 billion.
Work under Phase 2B is now under way and is aimed at correcting structural defects. That phase of the repairs is expected to cost $1.7 billion.
Meanwhile, Dr Tufton noted that the Government continues to invest in the improvement of the island’s health infrastructure.
“There is a plan for major infrastructure development (in health). If you go to the Cornwall Regional Hospital site, you will see three cranes building out a six-storey, 250-bed facility for adolescent and paediatric care, and that construction is in full flight to be completed in another year or so. It will complement the Bustamante Hospital for Children, except that it also deals with adolescent care from 12 to 18 years,” he outlined.
“Nationally, there are big plans around building out Spanish Town, a six-storey facility, at a cost of US$60 million, and May Pen and St Ann’s Bay, under an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded programme. So, from an infrastructure standpoint, we are making progress (in healthcare),” the minister further stated.
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THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, second from right, collects the Wanderlust Travel Magazine’s silver award for Most Desirable Island from Wanderlust Travel editor-in-chief and CEO George Kipouros, second from left, at the conclusion of World Travel Market in London, England, Wednesday. Also present were Tourism Secretary Tashia Burris, right, and Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd chairman Alicia Edwards. – THA
TOBAGO has been awarded a silver award for Most Desirable Island from Wanderlust Travel Magazine, at World Travel Market 2022 in London, England.
Wanderlust Travel magazine’s editor-in-chief and CEO George Kipourus presented THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine with the award on Wednesday at the close of WTM.
A photograph of Kipourus presenting the prestigious award to Augustine was posted on the Office of the Chief Secretary’s Facebook page. The award ceremony took place at the Tower of London, one of England’s most prominent historical sites.
Wanderlust is one of the UK’s leading independent travel magazines. Each issue highlights exciting destinations and experiences off the beaten path.
Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd (TTAL) executive chairman Alicia Edwards, who is among Tobago’s contingent at the WTM, said the award provides “excellent validation” that the agency is making the right decisions in terms of its marketing strategy and the niche markets in which the island continues to operate.
Edwards said the award is an indication that the island’s ongoing strategy to revive interest in destination Tobago among the UK travel market was bearing fruit.
She said, “This award is like icing on the cake for us, coming unexpectedly at the end of WTM…It’s really wonderful to have this win after a difficult couple of years, and we will be building on this as we go forward.”
Edwards said Tobago’s incredible natural beauty and unique, authentic experiences set it apart from regional competitors, including Cuba and St Lucia, which placed fourth and seventh, respectively, as well as reputable island destinations such as Bali Bali.
She said the Most Desirable Island, won by Palawan, an island in the Philippines, was a reader-voted award, where 50,000 of real Wanderlust readers – some of the best travelled in the world – nominated and voted for their destinations of choice.
Edwards said Lyn Hughes, Wanderlust founding editor, visited Tobago’s stand at WTM on Wednesday to personally congratulate the Tobago delegation on winning the award.
She said Hughes was thrilled to see Toabgo take the silver award.
Hughes was quoted as saying: “One thing that really helped our readers become aware of Tobago is that we did a webinar, working very closely with the tourism board. I know that within the Wanderlust team, it was one of our favourite webinars over the last year. We absolutely loved it and we found the people involved in it such a pleasure to work with.”
Hughes added, “I think that webinar, along with some of the other things done over the years to highlight Tobago, really paid off and struck a chord with our readers as a spot that they may not have considered before, but since they found out about it, they knew that it was the destination for them.”
Commenting on the silver award, Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association vice-president Carol-Ann Birchwood-James said it could be used to further market the island as the ideal tourism destination.
“It is always wonderful news when we win awards because we can use the awards to continue to market our island of Tobago,” she told Newsday.
“I am sure it would have been an award off the beaten track because we are an unspoilt destination and we hope to keep it like that. It is always good news and I congratulate the people and the governance of Tobago for receiving an award like that.”
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WHO’s Global Vaccine Market Report 2022, published today, shows that inequitable distribution is not unique to COVID-19 vaccines, with poorer countries consistently struggling to access vaccines that are in-demand by wealthier countries.
Limited vaccine supply and unequal distribution drive global disparities.
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine against cervical cancer has only been introduced in 41% of low-income countries, even though they represent much of the disease burden, compared to 83% of high-income countries.
Affordability is also an obstacle to vaccine access. While prices tend to be tiered by income, price disparities see middle-income countries paying as much – or even more – than wealthier ones for several vaccine products.
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“The right to health includes the right to vaccines,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“And yet this new report shows that free-market dynamics are depriving some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people of that right. WHO is calling for much-needed changes to the global vaccine market to save lives, prevent disease and prepare for future crises.”
Approximately 16 billion vaccine doses, worth US$ 141 billion, were supplied in 2021, almost three times the 2019 market volume (5.8 billion) and nearly three-and-a-half times the 2019 market value (US$ 38 billion).
The increase was primarily driven by COVID-19 vaccines, showing the incredible potential of how vaccine manufacturing can be scaled up in response to health needs.
Although manufacturing capacity worldwide has increased, it remains highly concentrated. Ten manufacturers alone provide 70% of vaccine doses (excluding COVID-19).
Several of the top 20 most widely used vaccines (such as PCV, HPV, measles and rubella containing vaccines) each currently rely mainly on two suppliers.
This concentrated manufacturing base leads to risk of shortages as well as regional supply insecurity. In 2021, the African and Eastern Mediterranean regions were dependent on manufacturers headquartered elsewhere for 90% of their procured vaccines.
Entrenched intellectual property monopolies and limited technology transfer further limit the ability of building and using local manufacturing capacity.
The health of markets is also concerning for several of the vaccines commonly needed for emergencies, such as against cholera, typhoid, smallpox/monkeypox, Ebola, meningococcal disease, where demand surges with outbreaks and is hence less predictable.
The continued limited investment in these vaccines could be devastating for people’s lives.
The report highlights the opportunities for more alignment of vaccine development, production and distribution with a public health agenda, towards achieving the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) goals and informing pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response efforts.
COVID-19 proved that vaccines can be developed and distributed rapidly, with a process lasting an average of ten years but never less than four years, compressed to 11 months.
The pandemic also exposed the long-standing need to recognise vaccines as a fundamental and cost-effective public good rather than a commodity.
To drive ambitious action to deliver equitable access to vaccines, the report calls on governments to act on: clear immunization plans and more aggressive investment and stronger oversight of vaccine development, production and distribution; regional research and manufacturing hubs; and pre-agreeing rules for government collaboration in times of scarcity on issues such as vaccine distribution, intellectual property and the circulation of inputs and goods.
Recommended actions for industry include: focusing research efforts on WHO priority pathogens, ensuring transparency, facilitating technology transfer, and committing to specific equity-driven allocation measures.
International organizations and partners should prioritize Immunization Agenda 2030 goals, support country-driven initiatives and push for the application of resolutions on market transparency.
SOURCE: Pan American Health Organization/SLT
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