Dear Members,
You will recall that earlier this year County Tipperary Chamber, ICC Ireland and UNICEF worked together to highlight the importance of an equitable distribution of vaccines across the world and to support UNICEF’s ‘Get a Vaccine, Give a Vaccine’ campaign. Our collective efforts generated significant success but recent events, particularly the emergence of the Omicron variant, provide a stark reminder highlighting the need for a re-invigoration of those efforts.
There is significant social and economic risk in not maximising our efforts to provide vaccines to all those who need them globally or the hard-won gains to which we have all contributed are not guaranteed to last. This is an urgent call to action to support vaccine equity.
The scale of the issue remains enormous. Right now, only 7% of people living in low-income countries have been fully vaccinated. That leaves a population of billions which remain vulnerable to COVID-19. With more room for the virus to spread, it also creates a huge risk of new variants emerging, potentially devastating societies and economies once again.
 
Vaccination has been proven to help limit virus transmission, protect vulnerable groups and reduce the risk of new variants appearing. In the fight against COVID, it remains our most important and pragmatic tool to restore global health and maintain our strong economic recovery.
 
UNICEF is currently leading the largest-ever vaccine procurement and supply operation as part of the global COVAX Facility. Through COVAX, UNICEF and partners are working to deliver 3 billion COVID-19 vaccines to the most vulnerable families, health workers, and high-risk people worldwide. UNICEF has been coordinating vaccine delivery to communities globally since 1948 and as a result has the cold chain and other critical infrastructure in place which make it uniquely placed to deliver. As we write to you, we can confirm that, under the COVAX Facility, UNICEF has already delivered 653.8 million vaccines this year and expects to reach 800 million by the end of the year. The target next year is 3 billion vaccines.
Vaccinating the entire world can only be done with the scale UNICEF and its partners offer. However, this scale comes at a high cost. Throughout 2021 UNICEF has been working with the private sector in developed nations to mobilise resources for this huge global effort. Business and the private sector have a huge vested interest in vaccinating the world and it is in this context that UNICEF has approached County Tipperary Chamber to request our support.
 
 
 
What you can do to help:
 

1. Highlight and promote the UNICEF ‘Get a Vaccine, Give a Vaccine’ campaign. The simple request is for a donation to UNICEF to support its ongoing work as it leads the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history. This is a particularly timely opportunity as Ireland rolls out its booster campaign across the population during the next few weeks. It is also incredibly effective with COVAX being able to deliver each individual vaccine for just €2.24. For donations, use this link.

                                                                                   

1. Encourage everyone  to join the UNICEF Corporate Vaccine Alliance which supports the global vaccine rollout by mobilising funding in Ireland. Chambers Ireland has joined the Alliance on behalf of our network as we believe it is a course of action that supports our members and the businesses they represent. It is an investment in the health of people around the world – and the future of Ireland. Visit unicef.ie/alliance.

While it is up to governments to decide who to vaccinate and when, it is critical that the private sector join in the effort to bring the pandemic to an end. In the process, we can ensure the communities in which we are based – and the economies on which we are so interdependent – are provided with the best opportunity to succeed.
 
If you or any companies would like to join the effort, UNICEF Ireland will be happy to connect over a call to further discuss the Alliance with you, and answer specific questions you may have.
We look forward to hearing from you.
 
Michelle Aylward
CEO
County Tipperary Chamber
 

Chambers Ireland, the voice of business throughout Ireland, is concerned about the challenges businesses are experiencing due to coronavirus uncertainties.
In light of the reintroduction of restrictions, it is clear that we are not in the recovery scenario that underpinned Government decision-making regarding Covid-19, and Budget 2022.
However, above-profile Exchequer returns demonstrate how fortunate we are that the parts of our economy which continue functioning under restrictions are maintaining employment and sustaining the income of their workers.
The clearest signal that a business is struggling is not the sector they are involved in but the devastating effect that Covid-19 has had to their business model and their revenue.
That decline in revenue, against historical profile, should be what is used to assess where help is needed as business supports are reintroduced. Previous attempts at finessing which businesses could get supports saw large numbers of vulnerable businesses excluded, often for months, only for Government to respond much later with further legislation. This delay in receiving supports caused unnecessary harm to those businesses and the people who worked there.
County Tipperary Chamber continues to call on government to introduce multiple scenario contingency planning. Businesses need to have foresight of what the Government responses will be should our Covid-19 levels not improve, and also what to expect if they disimprove.
Speaking earlier today, County Tipperary Chamber Chief Executive, Michelle Aylward, said:
“We are not where we hoped we would be with Covid-19 even three months ago. All of us; Government, business, and society, are struggling to manage that uncertainty. Government can however reduce some of that uncertainty if they can give clarity to businesses about what we can expect if the New Year is challenging.