Amnesty International has accused Covid-19 vaccine maker Pfizer of reporting "massive" profits while hurting the chances of millions of people around the world waiting to get vaccinated.
After the company reported a $14 billion (€12 billion) third-quarter revenue return for vaccines, expected to reach $36 billion (€31 billion) for 2021, Amnesty International said the drugmaker's refusal to waive intellectual property rights and share vaccine technology is "fuelling an unprecedented human rights crisis".
"That Pfizer has been able to earn billions of dollars in revenue in the last three months alone, while failing to provide vaccines to billions of people, is a failure of catastrophic proportions," Amnesty International's head of business and human rights, Patrick Wilcken said.
"Not only has the vast majority of its vaccines gone to high and upper-middle-income countries but Pfizer has also consistently refused to waive its intellectual property rights and share vaccine technology, while at the same time benefiting from billions of dollars in government funding and advance orders from wealthy countries," he added.
The group is supporting the World Health Organisation's target to vaccinate 40 per cent of people in low/lower-middle income countries by the end of the year through their '100 Day Countdown' campaign, of which there are only 59 days remaining.
As part of these efforts, Amnesty International is urging states to redistribute "hundreds of millions of surplus doses that they’re sitting on", while vaccine developers are being asked to ensure that at least half the doses they produce go to lower income countries.
"It’s not too late for Pfizer and its big pharma competitors to do what’s right for humanity and fulfil their human rights obligations," Mr Wilcken added.
