SOCIAL JUSTICE campaigners blockaded AstraZeneca’s Cambridge headquarters today to demand that the pharma giant waives patents on its Covid-19 vaccine. 

Two protesters clambered on top of the building’s entrance and held up a sign reading: “People’s vaccine, not profit vaccine,” while another two chained themselves to the doors to prevent people attending the company’s annual meeting. 

The action came ahead of rallies by Global Justice Now outside the Cambridge building, at Oxford University and at AstraZeneca’s Macclesfield site. 

The group is calling for the firm to openly license its jab and share its tech with the World Health Organisation. It argues that the jab, which was developed with an estimated 97 per cent of public funds, should be accessible to all. 

The protest comes after the US decision to back a waiver last week. The move was first proposed by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organisation but has been blocked by the likes of Britain and the EU. 

Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said it was shameful that Big Pharma companies were refusing to share knowledge, and applauded the actions of those protesting against “vaccine apartheid.” 
 
“That these young activists are willing to put themselves at risk like this should shake company executives who seem more concerned with trying to add millions of pounds to their already whopping salaries today than waive their patents and ramp up production,” he said. 

“We will not be silent in the face of this injustice, and today’s action is surely a sign of things to come unless Big Pharma immediately gives up its monopolies and the British government stops putting corporate profits ahead of the lives of millions around the globe.”