Prof Yunus urges all
Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus has issued an open call to the people of all strata to sign a pledge declaring the Covid-19 vaccine to be a common good.
The pledge can be made at www.vaccinecommongood.org, said a press release circulated by the Yunus Centre yesterday.
The Covid-19 vaccine, being a common good, would ensure that it is available to all globally, and that those who cannot pay for it, will not be excluded.
Those who sign this pledge will also agree that results of vaccine research done by the private sector should be in the public domain, making it available to any production facility, as long as it operates under an international regulatory supervision.
This pledge has already been signed by 105 world leaders, including 18 Nobel laureates, 32 former heads of state and government, political leaders, artistes, international NGOs and institutions.
The former heads of state who signed this unified appeal include former Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former New Zealand PM Helen Clark, former PM of Italy Romano Prodi, former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio, former president of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, and former UK PM Gordon Brown.
Other signatories include former presidents and prime ministers of Romania, Finland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Croatia, Poland, Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria, Mexico, Ireland, Ecuador, Latvia, Montenegro, Serbia, Belgium, Hungary, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Andorra, and Georgia.
