A national movement, Love My Neighbor, has been launched to encourage each Canadian to gift one vaccine forward to allow for the equitable distribution of vaccines to developing countries.
Love My Neighbor, in partnership with UNICEF Canada, aims at gifting forward 38 million COVID-19 vaccines to hardest-to-reach vulnerable neighbors living in 92 low- and middle-income countries – that’s one for each grateful Canadian.
“We hope every Canadian will agree that we can all play a role in ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines are affordable and accessible to all countries. We must be better neighbors,” said Sara Hildebrand, Executive Director of Millennium Kids and Project Coordinator of the Love My Neighbor project.
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Sara added, “we want to cross the COVID-19 immunity line side-by-side and write this pandemic ending together.”
One $25 donation funds everything needed for UNICEF to procure and deliver a two-dose vaccine – from the manufacturer to the arms of people in some of the world’s hardest-to-reach places.
This includes the per-person cost to transport the vaccines, protect the cold chain, train health workers and safely dispose of waste.
Multi-faith Coalition
The project seeks to fund doses over and above the two billion doses expected from COVAX—the global mechanism for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines— in 2021.
“Love My Neighbour has built an amazing multi-faith coalition who share a passion and commitment to vaccine equity, and to doing everything they can to bring the world to the other side of COVID-19,” said David Morley, President and CEO of UNICEF Canada.
“UNICEF is so pleased to partner with Love My Neighbour and shares the hope that through this national movement we can help put an end to a pandemic that creates serious threats to children and families around the globe.”
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As the world surpasses one billion administered vaccine doses with only 20-million delivered to African countries, UNICEF has called on high-income countries to consider donating at least 5% of their doses without delay.
Inspired by Millennium Kids and diverse Canadian faith communities, the project hopes to increase the equitable distribution of vaccines throughout the developing world to help end the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Vaccine equity is one of the biggest moral tests for the world,” said Muneeb Nasir, Co-Chair of the National Muslim Christian Liaison Committee (NMCLC) and a participating faith organization in the project. “Health experts have raised the alarm that the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure if wealthier countries do not ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines across the globe.”
“The Love My Neighbor project allows Canadians to address this moral dilemma.”
For further information and to make a donation visit : lovemyneighbourproject.org