"The move of G7 countries to donate surplus vaccines is a welcome one but it doesn’t go far enough.

"I have two main observations about this.

"The first is the idea of a surplus means that we are once again waiting to vaccinate our populations before thinking about vaccinating the rest of the world. This is deeply problematic because this is a global crisis and we will not be safe against variants unless we are all vaccinated.

"The second is grounded in our human rights obligations to solidarity. The G7 are using the language of altruism - if we have some spare vaccines, we will give you some - but as indicated in our Written evidence to parliament, all these countries have obligations to assist developing countries in the spread of infectious disease. This is a grand bargain that all countries make in order to ensure that we are all safe against the global spread of infectious diseases which are now on the rise.

"Therefore it is imperative that G7 countries step up their human rights obligations and join the COVAX scheme if we are to defeat this global pandemic."

Dr Sharifah Sekalala, Associate Professor, Warwick Law School

https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/people/sharifah_sekalala/