SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Moderna Must Share Technology to Ensure Vaccine Breakthrough Is Not Limited to Rich Countries
Responding to the announcement that US biotech company Moderna says its new vaccine is 94.5 percent effective against COVID-19, Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty International's Head of Economic and Social Justice Program, said:
"Having already sold most of its potential 2021 vaccine supply to rich countries, Moderna must follow through on its promise to allow others to make the vaccine, and provide the knowledge and technology to do so, once the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective.
WASHINGTON
Responding to the announcement that US biotech company Moderna says its new vaccine is 94.5 percent effective against COVID-19, Stephen Cockburn, Amnesty International's Head of Economic and Social Justice Program, said:
"Having already sold most of its potential 2021 vaccine supply to rich countries, Moderna must follow through on its promise to allow others to make the vaccine, and provide the knowledge and technology to do so, once the vaccine has proven to be safe and effective.
"Companies like Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have a responsibility to respect human rights, and they should play a leading role towards a global solution to COVID-19 by sharing and ensuring affordable prices. They must not act in a way that allows governments to hoard vaccines for a privileged few.
"We can only put an end to COVID-19 if companies ensure that those most in need of life-saving vaccines are not left behind. It's time for companies to live up to their human rights responsibilities and ensure the widest possible access to their innovations."
BACKGROUND
To date, Moderna is the only company that has committed to not enforce its intellectual property rights and allow others to make the vaccine.
Moderna says it can manufacture between 500 million and 1billion vaccine doses in 2021 (two doses per person needed), but it has only struck deals with rich countries that may account for the majority of these. The US has paid for 100 million doses already, with an option of a further 500 million. Canada has ordered 56 million, Japan 50 million, and the European Commission completed advanced talks with Moderna for up to 160 million doses. As these negotiations tend to be done behind closed doors, additional deals could also be underway.
This announcement follows a UN Special Rapporteurs statement on November 9, which highlighted that companies "should refrain from causing or contributing to adverse impacts on the rights to life and health by invoking their intellectual property rights and prioritizing economic gains."
Under international law, companies have a responsibility to respect human rights and, among others, must not impede States' efforts to realize the right to health and access to medicines.
This statement is available at: https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/moderna-must-share-technology-to-ensure-vaccine-breakthrough-is-not-limited-to-rich-countries/
Follow @amnestyusa on Twitter, Instagram @amnestyusa, and Facebook FB.com/amnestyusa.
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400LATEST NEWS
'How the Corruption Works': Trump Boosts Prediction Markets as His Family Profits
"Trump and his family are making tons of money off these new prediction markets—and so of course he is leading the charge against consumer protections," said one Democratic senator.
May 27, 2026
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday used his social media platform to boost prediction markets—a burgeoning industry from which Trump's family stands to profit—and lashed out at state leaders working to regulate them, singling out officials in Illinois, New York, and elsewhere as "scum."
Trump, whose administration is considered the most brazenly corrupt in US history, argued that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) must have "exclusive authority" over prediction market regulations, declaring that "it is a major industry, and we must protect it." The president's message echoed that of his CFTC chief, Mike Selig, who said earlier this year that the agency would fight any state-level efforts to restrict prediction markets.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who is co-leading legislation that would ban online prediction markets from allowing bets on government actions, said Trump's post on Tuesday amounts to "more evidence of how the corruption works."
"Trump and his family are making tons of money off these new prediction markets—and so of course he is leading the charge against consumer protections and for preferential regulatory treatment of his companies," said Murphy, alluding to Donald Trump Jr.'s role on the advisory board of Polymarket—the world's largest prediction market platform.
The New York Times reported last month that Trump's "publicly traded media company unveiled its own prediction market product last year. And the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., has ties to two of the industry’s top firms, including Polymarket, the platform that prosecutors say was used by the soldier for well-timed bets."
"The most corrupt president in our nation’s history wants to make sure states like ours can’t regulate prediction markets so his family and administration can keep profiting."
The president's attack on state efforts to regulate prediction markets drew swift pushback from state leaders who have supported cracking down on the platforms, warning they are avenues for insider trading and corruption.
"Illinois took action to prevent and ban insider trading with online prediction markets in our state," Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wrote on social media in response to Trump's post. "The most corrupt president in our nation’s history wants to make sure states like ours can’t regulate prediction markets so his family and administration can keep profiting."
The Trump administration, which has steamrolled federal regulators who have raised questions about prediction markets, is currently suing Illinois and other states over their efforts to regulate the platforms. Critics argue that prediction markets are illegal sportsbooks masquerading as financial exchanges in an attempt to skirt gambling restrictions.
Dominick Freda, legal director of Better Markets, said Tuesday that "Congress never intended to unleash nationwide gambling and certainly did not envision having the tiny and ill-equipped CFTC adopt the role of nationwide gambling czar." Better Markets on Tuesday filed an amicus brief in support of Tennessee's effort to rein in Kalshi and other prediction market platforms.
“The CFTC continues to waste its resources and focus on cheerleading these unpoliced, unregulated casinos when it should focus on its real job: regulating the multi-trillion-dollar commodities and derivatives markets," said Freda. "It is more important than ever for the CFTC to regulate and police those markets so that Americans can count on stable prices for the many goods they rely on, from gas to groceries. The CFTC should leave gambling regulation to Tennessee and the other states whose laws and regulations have protected the American public for decades, and must be allowed to continue to do so."
Keep ReadingShow Less
2,315 Meters Under the Sea, Greenpeace Stages Deepest Protest in World History
“By safeguarding these deep-sea ecosystems within a global network of ocean sanctuaries and establishing a moratorium on deep sea mining, we can create a resilient safety net for marine life, and protect the health of our global oceans for generations to come."
May 27, 2026
Aided by a sophisticated underwater submersible, activists with Greenpeace on Wednesday set a world record for the deepest protest ever by displaying a banner 1.4 miles beneath the surface of the Arctic Ocean to oppose industrial deep-sea mining and urging protection of the world's oceans.
According to the international environmental group, the message "LISTEN TO THE SCIENCE!" was displayed 2,315 meters below sea level using a remotely operated vehicle called ‘ROV Holly.’
Executed during a deep-water survey expedition between Iceland and the island of Svalbard, the robotic hand of the submersible held up the sign in front of a hydrothermal vent field known as Loki’s Castle, which is located along the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge that separates the Arctic Ocean's Greenland Sea from the Norwegian Sea.
"This marks the deepest banner protest in history, to speak for ecosystems that have no voice of their own," said Dr. Sandra Schöttner, chief scientist for the Deep Arctic Expedition at Greenpeace International. "World leaders have already promised to protect 30 percent of the oceans, now they must listen to the science and actually do it. We cannot meet our global goals if we also allow industrial exploitation of unexplored and vulnerable ecosystems in the deep sea. It is high time that leaders keep their promises and give the oceans a chance to recover.”
The Arctic Mid Ocean Arctic Ridge—which the group characterized as "one of Earth's least known wildernesses"—goes down to depths of up to 3000 meters. The expedition and historic protest is part of a Greenpeace campaign that is calling for the deep-sea world of hydrothermal vents like Loki's Castle and others, as well as seamounts and the "extraordinary creatures" that live in such ecosystems to be protected with the establishment of a network of marine sanctuaries.
“By safeguarding these deep-sea ecosystems within a global network of ocean sanctuaries and establishing a moratorium on deep sea mining," said Dr. Schöttner, "we can create a resilient safety net for marine life, and protect the health of our global oceans for generations to come."
Efforts to ban deep-sea mining by environmentalists, ocean stewards, and conservationists were stymied in the US with an executive order last year issued by President Donald Trump which seeks to bolster and expand the practice by the mining industry.
Trump was condemned for the move, which Greenpeace at the time called "an insult to multilateralism" due to its sidestepping of a UN-backed process designed to protect the oceans, and "a slap in the face to all the countries and millions of people around the world who oppose this dangerous industry.”
Trump's failures, however, have been counteracted at some level by other nations who have paused or put stronger protections in place when it comes to deep-sea mining. In December, Norway paused controversial plans to issue a fresh round of drilling and mining license beneath undersea areas it controls.
As part of its ongoing campaign to curb the destructive practice, Greenpeace is calling on world leaders to honor existing global climate targets, implement the UN Ocean Treaty to protect 30% of the global ocean by 2030, and establish an immediate moratorium on deep-sea mining.
“There is no version of seabed mining that is sustainable or safe,” Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Juressa Lee said last year. “Alongside our allies who want to protect the ocean for future generations, we will continue to say a loud and bold no to miners who want to strip the seafloor for their profit.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
GOP Lawmaker Distances Himself From Trump Slush Fund After Angry Pushback at Town Hall
"I do not think we should be creating a fund for people that commit physical violence against law enforcement," said US Rep. Mike Flood.
May 27, 2026
A Republican congressman on Tuesday tried to distance himself from President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund after being grilled about it at a town hall appearance.
During the town hall, Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) was asked for his opinion about the fund, which was created by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as a "settlement" for Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the 2019 leaking of his federal tax returns.
As constructed, the fund is set up to pay Trump allies who have been prosecuted for assorted criminal offenses, including the violent storming of the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
Flood was quick to state that he never voted to approve the fund, while emphasizing that "I do not think one penny of any fund should ever go to any January 6th insurrectionist that was in the Capitol on January 6, 2021."
"I do not think we should be creating a fund for people that commit physical violence against law enforcement," Flood added.
The crowd applauded the congressman in response.
GOP Rep. Mike Flood is clearly not happy about the anti-weaponization fund, but says he will follow Senate Rs on oversight issues
“I do not think one penny of any fund should ever go to any January 6th insurrectionist that was in the Capitol on January 6, 2021.” pic.twitter.com/QzhrLQQTXt
— Matt Rice (@matt____rice) May 26, 2026
According to a Tuesday CNN report, Flood throughout the event was jeered by constituents, who pelted him with questions not only about the Trump slush fund, but the war with Iran and the president's proposed luxury ballroom, for which he is seeking $1 billion in taxpayer funding.
Flood is far from the only Republican squeamish about Trump's slush fund, as even GOP hardliners have expressed reservations.
During an episode of his "Verdict" podcast last week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) revealed that Republican senators erupted in fury when acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tried to justify the fund during a luncheon.
"Fiery does not begin to cut it,” Cruz said of the meeting. “My guess is there are probably 45 senators in the room, at least half of them were blasting the attorney general, and they were pissed. There were multiple senators yelling at the attorney general, saying this feels like self-dealing.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular