This is apropos a Business Recorder news item carried by the newspaper yesterday. According to it, "US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it plans to provide 500 million doses of its vaccine for poor countries once results of clinical trials are announced by the end of January.

It plans to sell the vaccine at cost price and will provide the doses to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the group's scientific director Paul Stoffels told a virtual round table in Geneva."

This appears to be one of the most positive developments insofar as the challenge of Covid-19 for poor countries in particular is concerned. In other words, world's poorest will not be trampled in the rush to acquire Covid-19 vaccine. It is important to note that the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had ahead, declared that world's poorest countries could be "trampled" in the vaccine push or stampede. J&J deserves a lot of commendation for showing this highly valuable gesture.

Tariq Warraich (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020