NICOLA STURGEON faces a call by charities to do more to end the “vaccine apartheid” that has developed between rich and poor nations.

A group of charities is calling on both the First Minister and the Scottish Parliament to put pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of the G7 summit, which begins tomorrow.

The event in Cornwall will bring together seven nations’ leaders, including US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Campaigners from Oxfam Scotland, Christian Aid Scotland and Global Justice Now (GJN) Scotland, all members of the international People’s Vaccine Alliance (PVA), are demanding more action to accelerate the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations.

More than half of adults in Scotland have already had two doses of vaccine, but the PVA fears that it could take 57 years for the whole population of some countries to receive such protection.

The alliance wants Ms Sturgeon to support a new motion in the Scottish Parliament that urges Mr Johnson to back a waiver of intellectual property rules and insist that the vaccine knowledge and technology is shared through the World Health Organisation.

GJN Scotland head of campaigns Liz Murray said: “Rich countries are currently denying some of the world’s poorest access to life-saving vaccines.

“It’s not just wrong but also self-defeating and short-sighted. As long as the virus is allowed to spread in other parts of the world, Scotland and the UK’s health and economy will continue to be under threat.

“Boris Johnson’s intransigence risks prolonging this pandemic for everyone – and Scotland must not be complicit.

“Nicola Sturgeon needs to speak up and demand the Prime Minister stops protecting the profits of the big pharmaceutical companies while putting all of our lives and futures at risk.”