PROTEST – Tuesday, August 31, 12:00 noon ET, Cambridge, MA
BOSTON (August 30, 2021) While nearly 70% of the world population has yet to receive a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 4.3 million people have died from the pandemic, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna, maker of a key mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, is on target to book a record $35 billion in vaccine sales this year—25% more than previously forecast—according to the Wall Street Journal (“As Covid-19 Boosters Loom, Pfizer and Moderna Expected to See Billions More in Sales” WSJ, Felecia Schwartz, 8/19/21).
And as AstraZeneca, one of its competitors, sells its vaccine for under $5.00, the Guardian reports Moderna “… charged the US government (which helped fund the development of the vaccine) up to $16.50 a dose, and has sold it for $22 to $37 outside the US.” (“COVID-19 Vaccines: the Contracts, Prices and Profits” The Guardian, Julia Kollewe, (8/11/21) To protest Moderna’s ‘pandemic profiteering’ from the ongoing global public health disaster, advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and its partners will stage a demonstration at the pharma company’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Tuesday, August 31 at 12 noon ET.
| WHAT: | Vaccinate our World (VOW) Protest at Moderna’s World Headquarters in Cambridge, MA |
| WHEN: | Tuesday, August 31 at 12 noon ET |
| WHERE: | 200 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139 |
| WHO: | Approximately 25+/- community advocates, including AHF and partner organizations |
| NEWS DESK NOTE & VISUALS | There will be a moving picket line on the sidewalk in front of the Moderna HQ, protesters with signs and banners, chants, people in campaign t-shirts.
The event will be live streamed on Facebook (@AIDShealth) and Instagram (@aidshealthcare); Live tweeting (@AIDSHealthcare) |
| IN-MARKET MEDIA CONTACTS | Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications for AHF +1.323.791.5526 mobile
Mr. W. Imara Canady, AHF National Director, Communications & Community Engagement, +1.770.940.6555 mobile – [email protected] |
The WSJ also reported “Vaccine makers are charging 15% to 25% more per dose than they did for the first set of shipments,” AND “Both Moderna and Pfizer have said they intend to raise prices after the pandemic is over.”
At the same time, the Los Angeles Times reported that global vaccine access remains low. It cited Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, who told reporters on Wednesday, August 18th that just 10 countries have administered 75% of the world’s vaccine supply. Low-income countries, he said, have vaccinated about 2% of their populations.” (“Biden Outlines New Anti-COVID Plans” LAT, Eli Stokols & Del Quentin Wilber, 8/19/21)
“We have a clear message for Moderna – greed kills, and we won’t tolerate pandemic profiteering any longer! Moderna booked record-breaking earnings as a result of the pandemic and this windfall comes at the expense of people’s lives,” said Tracy Jones, Midwest Regional Director and National Director for Advocacy for AHF. “In low-income countries only about 2% of people have been vaccinated, with Africa being hit especially hard. We are not going to allow this to turn into another AIDS crisis, when pharma companies kept lifesaving treatment from millions of people by charging exorbitant prices for medicines often developed with taxpayer support. Moderna must lower vaccine prices and share its patents and technology with other countries so that vaccine production can be scaled up across the world. We won’t stop until Moderna does the right thing!”
AHF spearheaded a similar protest targeting Pfizer, and even more egregious pandemic profiteer, on August 17 in front of its world headquarters in New York City. To learn about that protest, click here; or view images, click here.
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AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.5 million clients in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare
