Melinda Gates Called on PM Jacinda Ardern to ‘Speak Up’ in Support of Global COVID-19 Vaccine
November 5th, 2020Via: New Zealand Herald:
Melinda Gates, co-chair of one of the world’s biggest philanthropic organisations, personally appealed to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to “speak up” in support of a collective approach to a Covid-19 vaccine.
Documents, released under the Official Information Act (OIA), show the pair met via teleconference on June 17 – the meeting was requested by Gates herself.
It came a month after the Government earmarked close to $40 million towards finding a Covid-19 vaccine.
The focus of the meeting was squarely on Covid-19, an upcoming vaccine and how the pandemic was impacting women, particularly in the Pacific.
“Gates said the US, and the world, saw New Zealand’s response and PM Ardern’s leadership as an exemplar,” according to official records of the meeting.
Ardern noted that it was going to be “a long journey” to get back to a pre-Covid-19 world.
“The key message from Gates was that this issue is difficult; we need you to speak up in support of a collective approach to vaccines,” the records show.
“PM Ardern said she’d be happy to assist.”
FWIW:
From the article:
In late May – a month before the meeting – the Government pledged $37 million towards finding a Covid-19 vaccine. A further $10 million went to domestic research and $7 million was put towards vaccine alliance, Gavi, which distributes vaccines to developing countries. Some $15 million of that was earmarked for international research collaboration, including those managed by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) which funds independent vaccine development.
…I wonder what 37 million might have accomplished for the NZ health system. Anyway…
From Wikipedia:
CEPI was conceived in 2015 and formally launched in 2017 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. It was co-founded and co-funded with US$460 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
From the GAVI website:
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged US$750 million to set up Gavi in 1999. The Foundation is a key Gavi partner in vaccine market shaping.
From Wikipedia:
GAVI was created in 2000 as a successor to the Children’s Vaccine Initiative.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12348372/