Rich countries get the COVID-19 vaccine and leave it for the poor

The race to vaccinate the world against a century-old pandemic began in a way that was too familiar.

By the end of 2021, wealthy countries would have consumed almost all of the global supply of the two major COVID-19 vaccines, and many middle-income countries turned to unproven drugs developed by China and Russia. Poor countries face long waits for the first dose. ..

“The richer countries will be able to vaccinate their entire population before many vulnerable groups in developing countries are covered,” he said. Suery Moon, Co-Director of the Global Health Center at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, Geneva.

As a result, pandemics have been killing people around the world for years, delaying the recovery of the global economy, and eventually resurrection, even in countries that have succeeded in controlling it by vaccination in the coming months. There is likely to be.

According to experts, inequality is often more important than public goods, and vaccines are predictable for the global health system, an expensive commercial product developed and patented by a handful of giant pharmaceutical companies. The result.

The access gap has created a demand for emergency measures that will allow poor countries to manufacture and import generic versions of the COVID-19 vaccine.

In October, India and South Africa requested the World Trade Organization to waive the intellectual property protection of these medicines, as well as some medicines used to treat HIV. This is a move that is said to have saved millions of lives in Africa.

Healthcare professionals are being tested for coronavirus outside the Ahmedabad train station in India.

(Ajit Solanki / Associated Press)

Humanitarian organizations that support the plan — they sayVaccines for people— Without it, 9 out of 10 people in dozens of poor countries warn that they will miss COVID-19 vaccination next year.

“If we don’t do anything, even half of the low-income countries will be successful in late 2022 or early 2023 before they are vaccinated,” said Nico, senior adviser to global health charity Oxfam America.・ Luciani said.

This proposal has been opposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Wealthy WTO members who helped finance vaccine development argue that such innovation would not be possible without patent protection.

The US government has provided most of the funding for the development of the Moderna vaccine. In addition, during the vaccine testing, purchase agreements (known as pre-market commitments) with pharmaceutical companies and Pfizer were signed. These deals reduced corporate risk and allowed the United States to secure 300 million shots.

As the only vaccines currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, they are currently Frontline healthcare professionals Nationwide.

Overall, the US government has confirmed transactions to purchase 1.1 billion half-dozen vaccines at various stages of development. Global Health Innovation Center At Duke University. The United States is expected to end up with much higher doses than needed to vaccinate all Americans.

Other wealthy countries have purchased an additional 2.9 billion rounds of bilateral transactions with pharmaceutical companies.

At the same time, there has never been such a global demand for the same number of drugs, but pandemic nationalism is an old phenomenon.

10 years ago, Outbreak of swine flu It killed more than 250,000 people worldwide, the United States and other wealthy countries robbed almost all of the vaccines available. They agreed to share a limited amount with poor countries only after confirming that there was enough to meet their needs.

For the poorest countries, the best chance of getting a large vaccine in 2021 depends on an initiative called Covax.

Launched by the World Health Organization and several nonprofits, the vaccine is fair by negotiating favorable prices with pharmaceutical companies and providing equal access to all countries, rich or poor. The purpose is to promote distribution.

Signed by almost every country in the world (except the United States). In many cases, it is only signed as an insurance policy in case of inadequate bilateral transactions with pharmaceutical companies.

But the poorest countries rely on help from wealthy members who have donated $ 2.4 billion to date. Covax officials say they need to raise another $ 4.6 billion.

“It’s great that Covax has access to these vaccine doses, but it depends on the company agreeing on the right price and giving them enough money for the donor to pay for it,” Lusiani said. Told.

As of last week, no country in sub-Saharan Africa had a contract to buy its own vaccine, according to the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.

By the end of 2021, Covax aims to inoculate only up to 20% of people in each country, even if fully funded. In some countries with serious outbreaks, it can turn out to be terribly inadequate.

To make matters worse, the center found that some rich participants undermined the initiative by reducing additional side deals with pharmaceutical companies and reducing the amount of vaccine available on Covax.

French and Canadian officials, who had secured enough vaccines to give each citizen five doses last week, said they were developing a mechanism to allow countries to share surplus vaccines with other countries. I didn’t give a time frame as to when it would start.

“We will definitely donate surplus capacity, but one day at a time,” said Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, Canada.

Experts say that vaccine storage can ultimately harm rich countries.

A Rand Corporation research We found that if only wealthy and vaccine-producing countries had access to injections, the global economy would lose $ 292 billion in value compared to a scenario in which all countries had access.

“Even if Americans are immune to the virus, they will not be immune to the financial loss that other economies cannot start again,” Moon said. “We have seen the limits of appealing to ethics and solidarity at this moment. We need to assemble this, not as development aid. This is an investment to reinvent the global economy.”

There is another danger in not clearing viruses around the world as soon as possible. It is unclear how long the vaccine will provide protection from COVID-19, so the virus will infect poor people next year, even in countries that have achieved herd immunity by inoculating at least 70% of the population. If allowed, it could eventually become vulnerable to outbreaks again. Country.

The casket of the victim of COVID-19 is burning after being cremated at a cemetery in Mexico City in June.

(Marco Ugarte / Associated Press)

Latin America and the Caribbean, which are home to 8.4% of the world’s population but account for 30% of COVID-19 deaths, are a prominent example of the threat.

Relatively wealthy countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile have allocated billions of dollars to buy vaccines and are struggling to reduce bilateral transactions with manufacturers. Still, they share borders with poor countries such as Bolivia, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, have close economic ties, and have to wait for a free vaccine from Covax.

“Everyone knows that viruses don’t respect borders,” says Lusiani. “People move. It bounces and will cause public health problems even in truly rich countries.”

China and russia It also develops vaccines and sells them to countries around the world at a fraction of the cost of Pfizer and Moderna shots, despite questions about their effectiveness.Among Chinese customers are Mexico and Indonesia suffering from one of Asia The most serious outbreak And he vowed to make the vaccine free for all citizens.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is currently conducting end-stage trials of vaccines that have special appeal in poor countries because they do not require ultra-low temperature refrigeration like Pfizer drugs and have fewer logistics challenges.

During the pandemic, the company promised to sell most of its products to developing countries at low prices. But so far, most of these deals are with China and India, where the domestic pharmaceutical industry is large.

The Indian generic drug industry, which already manufactures most of the vaccines used worldwide, is expanding its COVID-19 production facility with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other sponsors. I will. Initially, at least most of India’s production is reserved for domestic use, and the government has promised to vaccinate as many as 300 million people by September next year.

India’s largest manufacturer, the Indian Serum Institute, produces 200 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca and Novavax, a U.S. company, and sells them to Kovacs for about $ 3, enough to cover the cost. He says he has plans to do so.

“In a global panic, India’s manufacturing capacity is a major strength that the world can trust,” said K. Srinath Reddy, Chairman of the Indian Public Health Foundation.

“Every country has a duty to protect its people, but if they have more vaccines than they need, if they have them, or if they use them to strengthen their political fame and power. , It is unacceptable in a pandemic. Looking at the state of the world, I think it is morally criticized. “

Bengali was reported by Singapore and Linsicum was reported by Mexico City.