Listen: End Covid for All's Tim Costello speaks with Hope Afternoons' Ben McEachen about what the Australian Government should do to better vaccinate the world
By Ben McEachenFriday 24 Sep 2021Hope AfternoonsSocial JusticeReading Time: 2 minutes
“No, it’s not enough.”
That is Tim Costello’s frank assessment of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement about sending 40 million jabs to poorer countries, including some of our Pacific neighbours.
Costello welcomed the promise of extra supply sent by Australia. But the Executive Director of Micah Australia said the planet’s wealthiest countries had fallen short already of supporting other nations struggling to protect their populations.
The Executive Director of Micah Australia Tim Costello said the planet’s wealthiest countries had fallen short already of supporting other nations struggling to protect their populations.
“Less than two per cent of African people have been vaccinated,” Costello told Hope 103.2.
“Less than two per cent of Papua New Guineans – right on our door step; four kilometres across the sea from us.”
Costello is a spokesperson for End Covid for All, a national campaign calling upon our country to do more to help the rest of the world fight the pandemic.
This movement comprises an enormous body of churches, charities, and other groups. According to Costello, it believes Australia has a moral imperative to prioritise care for others beyond our shores.
End Covid For All is driven by “faith and self-interest” factors in what it demands of our Government.
“From a faith [standpoint], it’s that we all are made in the image of God – there’s something of God in every human,” said Costello.
“We all are made in the image of God – there’s something of God in every human,” – Tim Costello
“Self-interest is pretty simple: the mutant variants come from unvaccinated, often poorer countries. And they almost always get in here.”
Costello outlined what End Covid For All wants the Morrison Government to do for the world. A key ask is for Australia to provide more money to COVAX, the international umbrella organisation responsible for equitable vaccination delivery.
Listen to the full interview with former World Vision Australia CEO and AO Tim Costello in the player above.