Group: Tax rich to fund vaccines for poor hit by pandemic

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — Anti-poverty group Oxfam has called for governments to impose a one-time 99% tax on the world’s billionaires and use the money to fund expanded vaccine production for the poor. Oxfam said in a report Monday that the ranks of the super-rich have swelled during the coronavirus pandemic while poor countries have suffered because vaccines have mostly gone to rich nations. Its report is aimed at informing discussions at the World Economic Forum’s online gathering of political and business leaders this week. Oxfam called for rich countries to waive intellectual property rules on COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to expand their production.