The World Economic Forum is wrapping up today. Many of the world’s wealthiest people and world leaders have been gathering virtually this week for the annual event that normally takes place in Davos, Switzerland. The forum was held online for the second consecutive year due to the pandemic. Earlier this week, Dr. Michael Ryan of the World Health Organization warned participants of the growing vaccine inequity crisis.
DR. MICHAEL RYAN: If we look at the population of the world in total, over half of the world’s population has received two doses of vaccine. But if we look at in Africa, our African regional office states only 7%. So the reality is that the world is moving towards a 70% goal; the problem is we are leaving huge swathes of the world behind.
So, what inspired the book is the reality that, as you quite correctly report, we are in the middle of a global emergency. And it’s an emergency — I’m of course referring to the pandemic — that has been extended, worsened, intensified by the reality that a handful of people, the billionaire class — the people I refer to in the book as “Davos Man,” which comes from attendees of the World Economic Forum, you know, this glittering gathering of the most powerful, wealthy people on Earth — these are the people who have rigged our system so that most of the wealth flows in their direction, at the direct expense everyone else.
— source democracynow.org | Jan 21, 2022