Wealthy nations have bought up over half of potential Covid-19 vaccines, Oxfam warns

Rich nations have purchased over half the future supply of leading Covid-19 vaccine candidates in supply deals with the pharmaceutical industry, the charity Oxfam has warned.

Data collected by Airfinity and analysed by Oxfam show that publicly known supply deals have been made for five of the nine Covid-19 vaccines which are currently going through phase 3 clinical trials.

Oxfam estimated the combined production capacity of these five vaccine candidates at 5.94 billion doses, though this is only enough for 2.97 billion people given that all future vaccines are likely to require two doses. Developed countries including the UK, US, Australia, Hong Kong & Macau, Japan, Switzerland and Israel, as well as the European Union, have agreed supply deals with pharma companies to secure 2.728 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines, representing 51% of the current capacity.

The remaining doses been bought or promised to countries including India, Bangladesh, China, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico, as well as others. More so, AstraZeneca has agreed to supply 300 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to developing countries

Oxfam is warning that there is currently not enough capacity for pharmaceutical companies to make enough vaccines for everyone who needs one. The charity states that even if all five vaccines succeed, around 61% of the world’s population will not have a vaccine until at least 2022.

Anna Marriott, Health Policy advisor at Oxfam, said: “These figures reveal how pharmaceutical monopolies are being protected at the expense of people’s health and the global economy. While countries like the UK are understandably concerned about securing enough doses, until they challenge monopolies these deals will leave many poorer nations out in the cold. Most importantly, we will never be able to produce a vaccine at the scale required until corporations share their knowledge free from patents. We need a People’s Vaccine, not a profit vaccine.”

Oxfam says its calculations expose a broken system that protects the monopolies and profits of pharmaceutical corporations, favouring wealthy nations and leaving the rest of the world’s population waiting longer for a vaccine. Oxfam references Moderna’s efforts into developing a Covid-19 vaccine, for which it has received $2.48 billion so far. The company has sold supply deals to wealthy nations at prices ranging from $12-16 per dose in the US to around $35 per dose for other countries, Oxfam states, prices that put protection out of reach for those living in poverty.

The charity also points to how vaccine deals reveal the inequalities between wealthy nations and developing ones. The UK’s efforts to secure deals on several leading vaccine candidates, put its potential future supply equivalent to five doses per head of population. Oxfam’s analysis indicates that Bangladesh has only secured deals for one dose in every nine people.  

Oxfam is now calling for a People’s Vaccine which is made available to everyone, free of charge and distributed based on need.

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary General, said: “We in the AIDS movement have seen in the past how corporations use monopolies to artificially restrict supplies of life-saving medicines and inflate their prices. UNAIDS and other members of the People’s Vaccine Alliance are calling for a new approach that puts public health first by sharing knowledge and maximising supply. Anything short of that will lead to more deaths and economic chaos, forcing millions into destitution.”