After staging nearly two weeks of daily protests and activations targeting Moderna, maker of a key mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, at its Cambridge, MA headquarters, AIDS Healthcare Foundation and other organizations stepped up their global vaccine advocacy actions on Thursday, November 18 with a street theater protest featuring a variety of elements including skeletons, hazmat suits, cardboard coffins, money bags and more.
The advocates protested Moderna and its CEO, Stéphane Bancel over the biotech company’s unwillingness to share its lifesaving vaccine more equitably with those in need around the world. The groups have rebranded the company logo as “Murderna.”
“Our message to Moderna remains clear: greed KILLS, and we will simply not tolerate pandemic profiteering any further,” said Tracy Jones, Midwest Regional Director and National Director for Advocacy for AHF. “In low-income countries only about 4% of people have been vaccinated, with Africa hit especially hard. We will not allow pharma companies to keep lifesaving treatment from millions of people by charging exorbitant prices for medicines often developed with taxpayer support. Moderna must lower its vaccine prices, share its patents and technology with other countries and be transparent about its vaccine business dealings so that production may be scaled up across the world in order to truly address our global pandemic. We won’t stop until Moderna does the right thing!”
Click here to see more photos from the protest.