Blair blames continuation of the pandemic on a failure to coordinate global vaccination campaign

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, former Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the failure to coordinate vaccination campaigns on a global scale, rather than on a national one.

“It’s always been very obvious that, if you don’t vaccinate the world, this is a virus that can mutate. If you’ve got large populations that are unvaccinated, it’s likely to mutate faster and further”, Blair said. 

In order to end the cycle of new variants and further restrictions, Blair suggests, the world needs a global vaccination programme. 

Yesterday, writing in the Times, Mr Blair called for the international community to set an “aim of vaccinating the entire African continent by the middle of next year”.

The Tony Blair Institute has dedicated much of its time over the course of the pandemic and has called for a credible vaccination plan to be instituted on the African continent. 

The recent emergence of a new variant of concern (VoC), Omicron, has thrust Covid-19 response back into the limelight and governments across the world have re-emphasised the importance of vaccination.