Get vaccinated, then pay it forward

- by Janice Biehn on pwrdf.org

The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund has launched a new Vaccine Equity Fund to contribute to the worldwide vaccination effort from COVID-19. Money donated to this fund will be used to support our partners as they prepare for vaccine rollout in the coming months.

For the past year, PWRDF has provided funds to several partners to cope with the effects of COVID-19:

• keeping a hospital open in Haiti
• supplying medical equipment at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya
• providing income opportunities in Bangladesh
• supporting food relief and crop restoration in Zimbabwe.
• And through a federal government 6:1 matching fund, we have been able to support our partners in Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Mozambique with vital PPE and sanitization supplies, as well as support in disseminating quality health information to the community.

But what’s next? As people in Western countries line up for their “jab,” the people in the vulnerable communities our partners serve wait.

With the cooperation of the Anglican Church of Canada and our Primate, Archbishop Linda Nicholls, PWRDF has created a fund for Anglicans eager to “pay it forward.” Now when you receive your vaccine, you have the opportunity to “Pay it forward” and make a donation to PWRDF’s Vaccine Equity Fund.

“We must ask how we can share the benefits of health care and vaccinations many of us enjoy, with others who need it,” writes Primate Linda. “Canada will have excess vaccine – will we donate it to other nations? Will our government do its part to provide increased funds to COVAX [a pact among nations to share vaccines with all countries] to ensure that availability? Will we ask for a temporary suspension of trade restrictions (which currently control the price of the vaccine) so that production can reach heavily populated areas?”

Vaccine equity is a fundamental expression of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) through which we demonstrate our love of God and of neighbour, says Primate Linda.

PWRDF joins the Primate in urging Canadians to do what we can to ensure the people in our own communities, especially the most vulnerable, are being vaccinated. We can also write to the Prime Minister and our Member of Parliament and tell them we want Canada to share excess vaccine, allocate more funds to COVAX and suspend the international agreement to allow vaccines to be produced more quickly and cheaply around the world.

To support PWRDF’s Vaccine Equity Fund, click on the red button above. You may also donate over the phone by calling Donor Relations Officer Mike Ziemerink at 416-822-9083, or leave a voicemail toll-free at 1-866-308-7973 and we will return your call. Or, send a cheque with “Vaccine Equity Fund” in the memo field to PWRDF, 80 Hayden St. Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 3G2. Donations may also support the “Love My Neighbour” movement.

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay