KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) Khairy Jamaluddin said inequity worldwide has been laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The minister clarified in his speech for the launch of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report 2020 that addressing the structural inequity, which has deepened since the onset of the global pandemic, will be the key to how quickly society can recover from the damage done.
“Working from home during a mandated shutdown in a comfortable upper-middle class house is different from having to live behind closed doors in dimly lit, badly ventilated, dilapidated and small public housing.
“Online learning can be effective and fun with a fast internet connection and a good tablet. It is less so for many without that access. The pandemic has deepened the cleavages of inequity,” he said during the launch of UNDP’s Human Development Report 2020 earlier this morning.
The minister said the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, which has been affected by the massive orders placed by richer, more advanced countries, symbolises the lack of global solidarity and inequity.
“Many continue to live with inequity. Let them not die from inequity. These vaccines must be available to everyone, fast and at affordable prices,” he said.
Reuters reported that over one in four people are unable to get access to the Covid-19 vaccine at least until 2022 because wealthy countries that make up less than 15 per cent of the global population have reserved more than half of the doses of the most promising vaccines.
Quoting researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States, low- and middle-income countries that are home to 85 per cent of the global population will share the remainder.
On November 27, Khairy said that the government is working to secure Covid-19 vaccine doses for an initial target of 70 per cent of Malaysia’s population to achieve herd immunity, with 20 per cent already secured through a deal with Pfizer and 10 per cent also secured through a US$22,656,200 (about RM92.3 million) payment by Malaysia.