World’s ten richest men could buy vaccines for all, say Oxfam

The wealth of the ten richest men in the world has grown by half a trillion dollars since the start of the pandemic

A new report from Oxfam says that the world's ten richest people could pay for vaccines for all. The charity's Inequality Virus report found that the combined wealth of the world's 10 richest men increased by $540bn (£400bn) during the pandemic, which would be "more than enough to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine for everyone and to ensure no one is pushed into poverty by the pandemic". On the other side of the coin, the pandemic has caused the worst job crisis in over 90 years, putting hundreds of millions of people out of work. The report has been published on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Davos Agenda’.

On day one of #WEF21, we're releasing our #InequalityVirus report. We learned it took just 9 months for the 1000 richest people in the world to recoup their COVID-19 losses. But it could be 10 years before the world's poorest recover. #DavosAgendahttps://t.co/PxhTOk4dGT pic.twitter.com/WvAiueZc7h

— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) January 25, 2021

The report also found that the total wealth of the world's billionaires was equal to that of all G20 governments' spending on recovering from Covid-19. Oxfam are calling for higher taxes on the corporations that have profited during the pandemic. The report finds that a temporary tax on excess profits made by the 32 global corporations that have increased the most profit during the crisis could have raised $104 billion in 2020 - that's enough to provide unemployment benefits for all workers, and financial help for all children and elderly people in low- and middle-income countries. "We stand to witness the greatest rise in inequality since records began, said Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director of Oxfam International. "The deep divide between the rich and poor is proving as deadly as the virus.” “Rigged economies are funnelling wealth to a rich elite who are riding out the pandemic in luxury, while those on the frontline of the pandemic —shop assistants, healthcare workers, and market vendors— are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table. “Women and marginalized racial and ethnic groups are bearing the brunt of this crisis. They are more likely to be pushed into poverty, more likely to go hungry, and more likely to be excluded from healthcare.”