Gordon Brown calls for 240 million vaccines to be “airlifted” to countries with low vaccination rates

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips on Sunday that there are 240 million vaccines “lying in Europe and America which are unused, not likely to be used” and could “immediately be airlifted out” to countries with low vaccination rates.

Brown described the possibility of these vaccines going to “waste” as “criminal”. He pointed out that there are several countries where levels of vaccination are so low that not even the nurses and doctors are protected.

The former PM referred back to present PM Boris Johnson’s speech to the G7 where he promised Britain would help vaccinate the world by the end of 2022. “Since then, so little has happened that we face the possibility that every target is being missed”, Brown asserted.

Brown closed by asking: “100,000 lives have been saved in Britain because of 100 million vaccines, how many more lives could be saved in the rest of the world if we get these vaccines to the people who need them?”.