Video
UEA academics encourage donations to global Covid fund
The 'Arm in Arm' campaign, asking people to donate to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Covid-19 Response Fund, is being led by UEA lecturer Dr Kirstin Smith - Credit: UEA
Leading academics from the University of East Anglia (UEA) are urging vaccine recipients to support a global coronavirus fund.
Norwich-based doctors and professors are encouraging those being given jabs to make donations to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Around 15 million Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the UK, including at King's Lynn Corn Exchange - Credit: Ian Burt
Christened 'Arm in Arm', the campaign is being led by UEA lecturer Dr Kirstin Smith and her colleagues, and asks people to make a small donations to WHO's response fund.
Their call comes as the UK's vaccine roll-out reaches its next stage, with 15 million patients having already received initial doses.
WHO's Covid purse helps countries with fewer resources to track and understand the spread of the virus, providing supplies to frontline workers and care to vulnerable people.
Dr Smith, from UEA’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, said: “Millions in the UK have experienced the moment of joy when they’ve been offered a vaccine.
"My dad got his this week and the whole family are relieved as my brother had the virus in the first wave and was quite ill. So many people are grieving friends and relatives, or dealing with the long-term impacts of coronavirus.
UEA academics are encouraging donations to the WHO's Covid-19 Response Fund - Credit: Archant
“We are incredibly lucky to have the NHS in this country and the vaccine is free to all who want it. Everyone is doing their bit by getting vaccinated, but could we make a wider contribution?
Most Read
- 1 Family of missing man informed after body found near lake
- 2 Drama as police plane circles villages for missing person
- 3 Police fine 39 second-homers and day-trippers in resort crackdown
- 4 Rogue trader jailed after taking thousands of pounds from customers
- 5 Chef to reopen major hotel that closed amid financial woes
- 6 Emma Thompson and Peaky Blinders actor to star in new film shot in Norwich
- 7 Photos show RAF centre being visited by ‘beast’ of an aircraft
- 8 'Unsatisfactory and dangerous situation' - Man frustrated by unlit roadwork
- 9 Coronavirus: How busy are our local hospitals?
- 10 More than 40pc of people in Norfolk have now had their first Covid jab
"For those who can, it’s an ideal moment to support people living with under-resourced health systems across the world.”
Prof Paul Hunter, from the UEA, has encouraged people to donate to the WHO's Covid-19 Response Fund - Credit: UEA
Professor Paul Hunter, a Covid-19 expert from the UEA's Medical School who specialises in infectious diseases, emphasised the importance of nations joining forces.
“We’ve got to work together as an international community," added Prof Hunter. "The UK has made a great contribution to vaccine development and identifying new variants.
"Now we need to get the vaccine out to all vulnerable people wherever they live in the world, to reduce deaths and the risk of new variants - which ultimately pose a risk to us all.”
Around 15 million Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the UK - Credit: Danielle Booden
Dr Smith has been joined by UEA colleagues Dr Naomi Wood, Prof Rebecca Stott, and illustrator Naomi Wilkinson, to launch a website and social media channels for the campaign.
Visit the WHO website for more information about the Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
