Left-wing forces all over Europe demand free and universal access to a Covid-19 vaccine and treatments for everyone.
Under the slogan Right2Cure, the initiative supported by the GUE/NGL – The left group in the European Parliament and various left-wing parties and grassroots organisations from all across Europe petition Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to fulfil the promise of universal access, making a future Covid-19 vaccine a public good. The current EU vaccines strategy contains no strong commitment on this.
The Right2Cure initiative pinpoints patents as the main barrier to the fulfilment of this goal as they grant big pharma market exclusivity over lifesaving drugs and the ability to determine prices and make huge profits from the pandemic.
Pharmaceutical corporations have been known to exploit patents to limit access to effective treatments and cures, at the expense of countless lives in Europe and across the world.