87% of COVID-19 vaccines have gone to the wealthiest countries, while low-income countries received just 0.2%. This vaccine apartheid will continue to cause hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths of people across the world. A prime example of this capitalist-produced vaccine apartheid is in India, which has set world records for daily COVID infections in the past several weeks, despite the existence of billions of doses of vaccines across the world. India is one of the worldâs top pharmaceutical producers, yet without key imports from the U.S., it cannot produce what is needed to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people. Meanwhile, over 220,000 people in India have died and the death rate continues to soar.
Vaccine inequality is perhaps most stark in occupied Palestine. Israel has fully vaccinated almost 60% of its population, giving it the worldâs highest vaccination rate, yet the Palestinian Health Authority reported that less than 3% of Palestinians are immunized due to vaccine shortages.
The Biden Administration and other imperialist countries promise to share their vaccines. The US alone controls over quarter of the worldâs short-term supply of vaccines. Yet the US and others continue a policy of vaccine nationalism, prioritizing the lives of those inside the imperialist countries over those in oppressed nations.
A few pharmaceutical monopolies limit the means for making more vaccines, while taking in billions of dollars of public subsidies. Property rights are in direct conflict with human rights to health care.
Join Vijay Prashad, an Indian historian, editor and journalist who writes on vaccine nationalism and the need for a peopleâs vaccine as we discuss how to fight vaccine apartheid. Vijay is the author of Red Star Over the Third World (LeftWord, 2017) and the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma.
Interviewers:Â
Ted Kelly (Philadelphia WWP ) Mirinda Crissman (Texas WWP) They are co-editors of "Tear Down the Walls" (prisoner page for Workers World newspaper).
Webinar sponsored by Workers World Party.
Audio edited by Wilton Vought (last name rhymes with taught) of Essential Dissent.
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There are 2 versions of this webinar on the R4A server. Both versions are the full webinar (01:08:15), lightly edited for pacing and content, mostly removal of "um, uh, you know" and false starts. I didn't add my own intro/outro to either version:
Version 1: A -24 LUFS Mp3 optimized for RADIO PLAY.
Version 2: A -19 LUFS Mp3 optimized for downloading onto a computer or mobile device for INDIVIDUAL USE. Identical content to Version 1, but a louder file encoded at a lower bitrate so it takes up less space.
You can also download these files plus (much larger) .wav files for highest quality at this link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgR3-KWytgTzgvYhx-UmT_6n0dwtbA?e=lKFNUW
Note to Radio Station Personnel - Please make note of this link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AgR3-KWytgTzgZw_aOI2oDkhLhlrkw?e=fPuqpV You can use it to download all or part of the R4A Essential Dissent archive (in at least .wav format) via my OneDrive account, and I plan to continue to post new episodes to that account even if R4A at some point becomes non-functional.
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A few naughty words you may want to edit out: Shit: 00:56:53; 01:06:36 - 01:06:42 Bullshit: 01:00:54; 01:07:00 Pissed: 01:05:28 The above are the ONLY reason I chose to add a Broadcast Advisory. Pretty tame, but I thought I should mention it anyway.
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Approximate Times:
00:00:00 Ted Kelly (Run Time 1:53) 00:01:53 Vijay Prashad (8:18) 00:10:11 Ted Kelly (1:21) 00:11:32Â Vijay Prashad (8:57) 00:20:29 Ted Kelly (1:54) 00:22:23Â Vijay Prashad (9:46) 00:32:09 Ted Kelly (2:40) 00:34:49Â Vijay Prashad (8:55) 00:43:44 Ted Kelly (1:14) 00:44:58 Mirinda Crissman (1:22) 00:46:20Â Vijay Prashad (7:50) 00:54:10 Ted Kelly (:53) 00:55:03Â Vijay Prashad (8:02) 01:03:05 Ted Kelly (:43) 01:03:48Â Vijay Prashad (4:03) 01:07:51 Ted Kelly (:24) 01:08:15 End
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