Where Are the Doses? An Urgent Call to G20 Leaders

As the G20 Summit convenes in Rome this weekend, there is much for leaders to discuss — from humanitarian emergencies to the climate crisis. Yet none of these complex issues can be effectively tackled while the constant threat of COVID-19 persists throughout most of the world. Recently, The Duke and Duchess convened a World Health Organization roundtable in New York. During that meeting, leaders from across global public health, government, and civil society discussed the barriers to vaccine access in low-income nations — many of which are avoidable, if those in power waive constraints on production, increase transparency, and deliver doses that have already been promised.

Today, with WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, The Duke and Duchess have penned an open letter calling for leaders at the G20 Summit to act immediately to help end the pandemic. The COVID-19 vaccine is a public good, they said, researched and developed in large part by funding from the global public. That makes access to the vaccine a fundamental human right.  As several nations still lack shots for their own healthcare workers, let alone everybody else, the world is left asking: Where are the doses?

The letter was supported by a group of world leaders, experts and advocates in global health policy including: Inger Ashing, CEO, Save the Children International; Dr Seth Berkley, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, UNAIDS; Chelsea Clinton, DPhil, MPH, Vice Chair, Clinton Foundation; Hugh Evans, Co-founder and CEO, Global Citizen; Tom Hart, Acting CEO, The ONE Campaign; Carolyn Reynolds, Co-founder, Pandemic Action Network; and Anil Soni, CEO, WHO Foundation.

We invite you to learn more by reading the full letter to G20 leaders.