World Immunisation Week 2022

That the Parliament notes that 24 to 30 April is World Immunisation Week 2022; notes that the theme is A Life Well Lived; understands that the week aims to highlight the collective action needed and to promote the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against disease; applauds what it sees as the efforts of the World Health Organization to work with countries across the globe to raise awareness of the value of vaccines and immunisation and to ensure that governments obtain the necessary guidance and technical support to implement high-quality immunisation programmes; understands that while immunisation is one of the most successful public health interventions, coverage has plateaued over the last decade and that the COVID-19 pandemic has strained health systems, which, it believes, has impacted vaccination coverage; notes with concern that in 2020 global vaccination coverage dropped to 83% from 86% in 2019 and that the number of completely unvaccinated children increased by 3.4 million; understands that the World Health Organization set a target to vaccinate 40% of the global population against COVID-19 by the end of 2021, but 92% of countries were unable to meet this target; further understands that the majority of COVID-19 vaccines delivered globally have gone to rich countries; believes that vaccine inequality threatens the global route out of the pandemic, and understands that World Immunisation Week 2022 calls on the Scottish Government to do everything in its power to ensure more equitable access to vaccines around the world, including by continuing to apply pressure on the UK Government to support the TRIPS waiver at the World Trade Organization.