Nobel laureate and social entrepreneur from Bangladesh Muhammad Yunus, well known for his work in the area of microfinance, on Thursday called for efforts to make COVID vaccines accessible to all.
Stating that many countries had already booked vaccines more than what is needed to inoculate their population, he said the rush is already creating a world of vaccines haves and have-nots. “I appeal to the world to declare vaccine as a global public good. There should not be any ownership control, commercial control [over the vaccine]… there should not be any patent right,” he said, pointing out that vaccine is life and life is for everybody.
Addressing the TiE Global Summit 2020, being conducted on an online platform, on ‘Post-corona reconstitution programme’, Mr. Yunus said as much as the pandemic has revealed the faults and weaknesses of the economic systems of the world, it also provides an opportunity to create a better world.
Instead of yearning to go back to the pre-COVID world, effort should be to rethink and redesign life without contributing to global warming, wealth inequality and unemployment. “Focus should be on zero carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration and zero unemployment,” he said, even while telling the summit how Artificial Intelligence will replace humans.
“The disaster train on which we were in the pre-COVID world has stopped, we are off it, it is time to start a new train in a new direction,” he said, adding there is tremendous pressure, desperation and eagerness among people, businesses and governments to go back to the pre-COVID situation because they do not like economy stalling.
