What is Vaccine Nationalism and how does it affect the fight against Covid-19

Nurses draw blood from volunteers during an Imperial College vaccine trial at a clinic in London (AP).

Wealthier countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States have pre-purchase agreements even before final human testing or regulatory approval With Covid-19 Vaccine Manufacturer, A development that came to be known as “vaccine nationalism”. Such a pre-agreement could make the first few vaccines affordable and unavailable to all but about 8 billion rich countries in the world.

this is World Health Organization (WHO) warns country Possible storage COVID-19 Deepen the vaccine while excluding others Pandemic.. “We need to prevent vaccine nationalism. Strategic and global sharing of a limited supply is actually in the national interest of each country.

To achieve equitable and widespread access, WHO, the Quarantine and Innovation Alliance, and Gavi have devised an initiative known as the “Covax Facility.” The facility aims to source at least 2 billion Covid-19 vaccines by the end of next year, primarily for deployment and distribution in low and middle income countries.

What is Vaccine Nationalism?

Known as “vaccine nationalism” when a country secures a vaccine dose for its citizens or inhabitants and prioritizes its own domestic market before it becomes available in other countries. This is done through a pre-purchase agreement between the government and the vaccine manufacturer.

For example, America, The UK, Japan and the EU have spent billions of dollars in dealing with vaccine front runners such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, even before they prove their effectiveness.

Vaccine nationalism is not new

The current competition to store Covid-19 vaccines reminds us of a situation similar to what happened in 2009 during the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Australia, the country that first developed the vaccine, blocked exports, but some of the richest countries have signed pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies. You have the right to buy 600,000 doses in the United States alone.

Developed countries offered to donate vaccines to poor countries only when the H1N1 pandemic began to recede. It should be noted, however, that H1N1 is a milder disease and its effects were far less than Covid-19, which already infected more than 22 million people and killed 777,000 people worldwide.

Healthcare professionals hand volunteers candidate coronavirus vaccine during trial at Community Health Center (AP) in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

US and UK have already secured millions of deals

According to London-based analysis firm Airfinity, the United States, United Kingdom, EU, and Japan have secured approximately 1.3 billion Covid-19 vaccine candidates to date. Options to spike more supplies or pending deals, adding an additional 1.5 billion doses, the figures show. By country, the US has already agreed to buy about 800 million doses from six pharmaceutical companies, and the UK to buy five to 280 million doses.

Last week, the European Union negotiated with AstraZeneca on the purchase of 300 million vaccine candidates developed by Oxford University. We have also signed a 300 million contract with French giant Sanofi.

Airfinity does not forecast global supply to reach 1 billion times by the first quarter of 2022.

Is there a law to prevent vaccine nationalism?

Interestingly, although vaccine nationalism violates global public health principles, there are no provisions in international law that preclude pre-purchase agreements.

What are its drawbacks? What are the alternatives?

The main drawback of vaccine nationalism is that it puts countries with poor resources and bargaining power at a disadvantage. Therefore, if a country with a large number of cases lags behind in obtaining vaccines, the disease will continue to disrupt global supply chains and, consequently, the global economy.

“For example, if you tried two vaccinations across the US (and) the EU, you would have about 1.7 billion vaccinations, and if that’s the number of doses available, Seth Berkeley, CEO of the GAVI alliance, said Reuters has vaccinated a handful of countries with vaccines, or even 30 or 40. If not, more than 150 countries have said they have not been vaccinated.

Instead of stopping vaccine nationalism, there is global cooperation through WHO-supported COVAX facility mechanisms. To date, over 170 countries have expressed interest. They are about 90 middle and low income countries and 80 fully self-financing countries.

Countries that participate in the initiative are guaranteed a vaccine supply on every successful occasion. Moreover, each country has a reliable supply to protect at least 20% of the population.

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