‘Vaccine racist’: Bill Gates says no to sharing vaccine tech with developing nations, draws ire
This report was first published in theprint.in and has been posted here without any alterations or editing. To read the original report, CLICK HERE
New Delhi: As India battles the deadly second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates’ recent remarks on patents in vaccine technology have sparked a row.
Gates, in an interview on 25 April with British news broadcaster Sky News, was asked if it would be better to share intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines with developing countries. To this, he answered, no.
“The thing that’s holding things back, in this case, is not intellectual property… It’s not like there’s some idle vaccine factory, with regulatory approval, that makes magically safe vaccines,” Gates was quoted as saying.
He also said, “There’s only so many vaccine factories in the world, and people are very serious about the safety of vaccines…Moving a vaccine, say, from a [Johnson & Johnson] factory into a factory in India, it’s novel, it’s only because of our grants and expertise that can happen at all.”
His remarks drew criticism even from supporters of his philanthropic efforts.
Progressive political commentator Krystal Ball, who co-hosts news web series Rising, said the US, European Union pharma companies have been trying to keep vaccine formulas a secret to profit from them and have “an extraordinarily powerful ally in that fight to protect their bottom line, human lives be damned – our own supposed savior of global public health, Bill Gates”.
In another episode of Rising, Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth Karp said, “I think that Bill Gates has done a lot for vaccine competency over the years. Having said that, 100 per cent, this is about patent protection”, and not actually about concerns of vaccine production quality. Karp added, “If he was true to his mission that he’s been following for the last 20 years” of vaccine distribution, then Gates would now be at the “forefront” of making sure every capable factory was “operating at full capacity”.
‘Vaccine racist, monopolist’
Several Twitter users also took a dig at Gates and his supporters.
A Twitter user said, “Watching liberals slowly learn Bill Gates is bad is a delight… he’s always been like this, a monopolist who puts profits above all”.
Watching liberals slowly learn Bill Gates is bad is a delight
— Aggressively Normal (@DoctorFishbones) April 29, 2021
Another user tweeted, “I don’t want to cause too much controversy on the left, but I do not think bill gates has our best interests at heart (sic).”
I don't want to cause too much controversy on the left, but I do not think bill gates has our best interests at heart.
— Jack Saint (@lackingsaint) April 29, 2021
Bill Gates defending IP when tens of thousands are dying globally while we sit on vaccine patents is exactly what will happen if we rely on tech to solve the climate crisis.
— J. Mijin Cha 차미진 (@jmijincha) April 30, 2021
Jordan Schachtel, an independent journalist, said, “In September of 2019, Bill Gates spent $55MM on a pre-ipo equity investment into BioNtech, which later partnered with Pfizer to make its mRNA vax. That Gates investment is now worth over $550 million dollars.”
In September of 2019, Bill Gates spent $55MM on a pre-ipo equity investment into BioNtech, which later partnered with Pfizer to make its mRNA vax.
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) April 29, 2021
That Gates investment is now worth over $550 million dollars.
No further questions, plebs!
Closer to India, a Sri Lanka-based writer wrote, “Bill Gates is a vaccine racist. He thinks Indians – who make 60% of all vaccines – are ‘unsafe’.”
Bill Gates is a vaccine racist. He thinks Indians - who make 60% of all vaccines - are 'unsafe'. He thinks the colored world is a bunch of Oompa-Loompas... and he's Billy Wonka.
— indica (@indica) April 30, 2021
Full Video: https://t.co/uNT8RVteWL pic.twitter.com/jJh5eVl2Uy
Courtesy: theprint.in
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Balendra Shah's RSP makes history, registers landmark victory in Nepal elections
_vb_87.jpeg)
Kathmandu (PTI): Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's RSP is all set to form the next government in Nepal after securing sweeping victory in crucial general elections on Saturday, decimating the established parties in the politically fragile nation.
Popularly known as Balen, the 35-year-old prime ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) defeated four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli, the chair of Nepal's legacy party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) -- CPN-UML -- by a huge margin of about 50,000 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency.
Balen, 35, secured 68,348 votes against 74-year-old Oli's 18,734, the Election Commission (EC) said.
He is expected to be the next prime minister of Nepal, reflecting a public mood of rejection of established parties. The RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, has won 72 seats out of the 90 seats for which results were declared by 9:30 pm, according to the Election Commission (EC).
RSP's seats include a clean sweep in all 10 constituencies of Kathmandu district even as it is leading in 52 seats across the country, the EC data showed.
Legacy parties failed to convince voters for whom the major issues included fighting corruption and an end to nepotism apart from a generational change in political leadership of the Himalayan nation.
The Nepali Congress (NC) won 10 and was leading in eight seats; the CPN-(UML) won just four seats and is leading in eight; the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) won two seats and is leading in five, the Shrama Shakti Party (SSP) was leading in three seats, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) won one seat, the EC data showed. Among the winners is one independent.
Nepal witnessed about 60 per cent voter turnout during the March 5 elections to the House of Representatives. The counting of votes started late Thursday night and as of 9:30 pm Saturday, counting was in progress in the remaining of the total 165 constituencies, the Election Commission said.
The election was being closely watched by India, which is hoping for a stable government in the politically fragile Himalayan nation to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated the people and government of Nepal for the successful conduct of elections. “It is heartening to see my Nepali sisters and brothers exercise their democratic rights so vibrantly. This historic milestone is a proud moment in Nepal's democratic journey,” Modi said in a post on X.
Modi also said that as a close friend and neighbour, India remains steadfast in its commitment to working closely with the people of Nepal and its new government to scale new heights of shared peace, progress and prosperity.
Oli, who too was projected as the PM face of the CPN-UML, wished Balen for a full five year tenure for his government in the Himalayan nation that has seen 14 governments in the last 18 years.
“Balen babu, congratulations for the victory. I wish your five year tenure be trouble free, successful and hearty congratulations,” Oli wrote in his social media post and attached a 2022 photo showing him gifting a tabla to Balen after the rapper-turned-politician won Kathmandu mayor's election as an independent.
The RSP, which projected Balendra Shah 'Balen' as its prime ministerial candidate and had organised its first election campaign in Janakpur in Madhesh, is heading towards a clean sweep of the province.
‘Balen’, as he is popularly known, projected himself as the “son of Madhesh” during the campaign, with the party launching the campaign with 'Ab ki bar Balendra Sarkar' (This time there will be Balendra’s government) tagline.
Of the total 32 seats in eight districts of Madhesh province, the RSP has won eight and is leading in 22 other constituencies, the EC said.
The party is also making a clean sweep in the Kathmandu Valley winning all 10 seats of Kathmandu district and two in Bhaktapur and two in Lalitpur district.
The party is also leading in the remaining one seat of the Kathmandu Valley with a huge margin, possibly as a result of a massive road show led by Balen in all 15 constituencies on the last day of the election campaign.
RSP chairman Lamichhane won with a huge margin from Chitwan-2 constituency, marking his third consecutive victory with 54,402 votes against his nearest rival NC's Mina Kumari Kharel, who received 14,564 votes.
According to the Election Commission, former prime minister and NCP leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won from Rukum Purba district by securing 10,240 votes against his rival Lilamani Gautam of CPN-(UML), who got 3,462 votes.
RPP's Gyanendra Shahi won from the Jumla constituency of Karnali province by defeating his closest rival Naresh Bhandari of the NCP and became the only candidate of the pro-monarchist RPP to have secured a seat in the House of Representatives.
The election also saw 10 women candidates win, nine of them from the RSP while one from NC.
Meanwhile, the RSP is also leading in proportional voting system with the party bagging 474,266 votes followed by Nepali Congress with 160,384. The CPN (UML) has received 127,841, Nepali Communist Party 65,363, the RPP 34,154, and Shrama Shakti Party 17,437 votes till now.
Out of a total of 275 members of the Parliament, 165 are being elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 through a proportionate method.
Around 3,400 candidates were vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportionate voting.
The Gen Z youth, through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9 last year, ousted Prime Minister Oli of the CPN-(UML), who was heading a coalition government with the backing of Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.
Though Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Oli's ouster, he declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would prefer to contest the parliamentary election for a full term.
In January, he joined the RSP and was soon declared the party's prime ministerial candidate.
The major issues raised by Gen Z before and during the election campaign were anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.
Sunil Babu Pant, former MP and a political analyst, said, “The victory of Rastriya Swatantra Party in the March 5 elections and the expectation that Balen Shah could emerge as Nepal's next Prime Minister reflects the people's deep rooted frustration with the old political order and their hope for a new direction.”
“As Balen assumes the country's leadership, his first responsibility must be to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated under any circumstances,” he said.
Balen will also face a complex geopolitical challenge, Pant said, adding, “He must prove that he is not a puppet of any external power, western or otherwise. Nepal's leadership must carefully balance relations with all global actors and pursue an independent foreign policy that prioritises the national interest.”
