Grand Imam thanks the scientists working on developing COVID-19 vaccines and demands the adoption of a fair vaccine distribution policy that serves the poor and the most needy
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ash-Sharif, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, thanked the scientists and researchers working on producing COVID-19 vaccines for their efforts, calling on the manufacturing companies to adopt a fair distribution policy of the vaccine that prioritizes the poor and needy. The Grand Imam posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that “the efforts made by scientists and researchers to present COVID-19 vaccine to the world constitute a generous and appreciated gift from the heroes assigned by the Lord to preserve human life in light of a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than a million people and that still threatens the world." The Grand Imam also demanded that the poor and refugees be taken into consideration, stating, "The poor and refugees should not be forsaken in terms of their right to the vaccine; and the manufacturing companies should adopt a fair distribution policy, in line with their mission and humane conscience, away from commercial and materialist calculations." The Grand Imam’s post comes in response to media reports revealing the manufacturing of vaccines that have 90% efficacy, and to other media reports detecting the wealthy countries’ rush to reserve vast numbers of the globally long-awaited vaccine.