"A vaccine for all", the campaign for global access to vaccines against Covid-19, was presented at an online press conference. A network of over 40 organizations from different countries and religions promotes it. The initiative, on the eve of the G20 World Health Summit, starts with a concrete action to which everyone can contribute with a donation: the objective is the vaccination of the populations living along the Amazon River in Brazil.

The young people are the first to speak, Conlet Burns, Irish and Klara Piedade from Brazil, both from Youth for a United World of the Focolare Movement, to say that the initiative is part of that proposal called "Dare to care", daring to take care, which young people themselves had launched at the beginning of the pandemic and with which they wanted to urge everyone, including the world of politics, to put care first. It was not just a slogan, they point out, but a new way of looking at today's immense challenges and acting with concrete initiatives for change. With this objective they have since worked in different parts of the world and the initiative proposed today is shared by numerous organisations, groups and associations. Being vaccinated against Covid-19 cannot be a privilege, they argue, but a reality for everyone. 

A global network for the Amazon

In his speech Mario Bruno, president of the Political Movement for Unity, MPU, confirms that there is a need for a new way of doing politics and that vaccine internationalism is the political response that governments must give today. It is necessary for citizens to urge this decision by rolling up their sleeves in the meantime. For this reason, the campaign, he explains, intends to focus concretely for now on a region of the world particularly affected by the pandemic, the Amazon, by financing a project in the Brazilian state of Pará.

Edson Galego, a Brazilian healthcare worker, describes the very difficult situation that the "ribeirinhos" population is experiencing in Pará: many victims of the pandemic, few structures, means, personnel to treat the sick. No access to care for people living along the Amazon River. The "Barco Hospital Papa Francisco" hospital boat operates precisely for them, requested by the Pope himself and entrusted to the Franciscans and which to date has already reached 700 thousand people. The proposal of the "A vaccine for all" campaign is to support this commitment with online donations. Everything collected will be used to purchase vaccines and hygiene kits. “For the indigenous people, the pandemic is much worse than we might think – says Galego who works in the Barco Hospital – they are not vaccinated and risk remaining invisible. We believe that through our global network we can take care of them."

Sister Alessandra Smerilli, undersecretary of the dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development which coordinates the Economy task force of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission, recalls that the structure was born from the Pope's concern to prepare the future, she says: "the mandate received was : do something so that the world is different, but do it in concrete terms, and it seems to me that this project is an icon of what he wants because it is based on actions and at the same time makes us understand the need to change the mentality". It is not a project. of charity, he underlines, but regarding vaccines it is saying "we want something that goes in the right direction", the suspension of patents, or realistically the negotiation on their price and then their production also in the South of the world with conservation and transport characteristics compatible with the characteristics of that hemisphere.

Without solidarity there is no future

Yassine Lafram, president of the Union of Islamic Communities of Italy, denounces the increase in inequalities on the planet whereby today the vaccinated person is privileged and those who are not are a sort of leper to be kept at a distance. “There is co-responsibility in what happens in the world - he states -, we are all connected and once we have vaccinated entire populations we could begin to look with distrust at countries that have not yet managed to vaccinate even 1 percent of their population. population". His thoughts turn to the Palestinian territories, where in recent days the only Covid laboratory available to the inhabitants was bombed, only 3 percent of Palestinians have been vaccinated. "Many countries are grappling with the new variants but - he concludes - we are confident that the world will be able to get back on its feet if there is a great shared responsibility".

For Gianfranco Cattai, coordinator of Retinopera Italia, which brings together 23 Catholic organizations with 4 million members, all of us "are experiencing an important opportunity, an extraordinary opportunity that sees two types of approaches, one based on security, the other based on solidarity. No one is safe until we are all safe, so without solidarity there is no future. Inequalities grow without solidarity. This is an important opportunity - he states - to bring politics and society together and we must cooperate to provide global responses of justice. Today begins an experience that we hope will inaugurate other future projects."

Stefano Comazzi, president of the NGO Azione Mondo Unito, returns to talk about the project underway in Brazil where they would like to distribute vaccines. And he solicits donations through ithe website: www.avaccineforall.org, but explains: “for us at AMU and not only for us, it is truly essential that no one feels like a beneficiary, but that bonds are created between those who donate and those who receive aid. This is shared with the diocese and so is happening with the local populations who give their contribution in various ways."

Go beyond the laws of the market

A testimony also comes from India, that of Vinu Aram, director of the Shanti Ashram, who collaborates with the government. From her the invitation to solidarity remembering how many deaths from Covid there have been in her great country and how much suffering the population is still experiencing. The second wave is spreading very quickly, she says, "yesterday we had the highest number of deaths in a single day since the pandemic began in January 2020. We must take care of others - she reiterates - we must all recognize each other a single family. Taking care of yourself is not enough." And she quotes a phrase from Ghandi: "Faith does not allow life alone and one cannot just talk but live." For the first time, she points out, scientists from all over the world have collaborated to obtain a vaccine, including two Indian researchers. “We must now go beyond the laws of the market – she concludes – current globalization shows us that solidarity leads to security”.