A bumpy road to recovery

Questioning the vaccine rollout and wealthier countries' surplus of Covid-19 vaccines. 

Earlier this month during a Covid-19 media briefing, the World Health Organisation’s director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reflected on the state of the vaccine rollout during the pandemic.

In a somewhat reproachful statement, Dr Tedros reflected on how his warnings against the emergence of vaccine nationalism had come true.

Since September last year, the director-general had been warning us against the threat of vaccine nationalism – where rich countries would horde Covid-19 vaccine supplies, made possible by pre-purchase agreements with major pharmaceutical corporations.

The WHO’s warnings, which some had called alarmist, he said, are now being played out on the world stage, with only 0.3% of current vaccine supply going to low-income countries.

You can read more about this story in the news section of this issue, but I thought it pertinent to highlight it in this editor’s letter due to the overwhelming sense in this country that things are finally starting to get better.

The emergence of Covid-19 brought with it many headlines and statements that made everyone around the world feel that they could be at threat from this dangerous and looming virus.

One particular phrase that struck out to me during this time was “we’re all in this together.” Which, in essence, we were. But now, as vaccines are rolled out primarily across wealthier countries and poorer nations are left unprotected, the balance has shifted.

Take this statistic for example. The UK has procured enough doses of Covid-19 vaccines to vaccinate 409% of its citizens. The EU - 333%. The US – 199%. Canada – 493%. Compare this to Pakistan which has procured a little under 11 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, or just enough to vaccinate 2.5% of its population. India, where we’re seeing a massive increase in Covid-19 rates and deaths, has procured enough Covid-19 vaccines to cover 13.4% of its population.

You can argue that this is how capitalism works. That pharmaceutical companies are at liberty to make deals with those who can offer the funding required to cover the enormous costs of R&D. We’re seeing a similar argument play out with the temporary waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights in regard to Covid-19 vaccine know-how.

But, in a major health crisis, when vaccine supply is so divided, it becomes clear that whatever strategy we’ve had for tackling the pandemic has not been a unilateral one. The Covax scheme, the admirable, philanthropic effort to supply vaccines to poorer nations, has faced its own supply problems. And whilst nations such as the US and France have committed to helping the scheme, it’s obvious that we need a better approach to how we tackle vaccine inequality as a global entity, rather than a collection of nations.

The next pandemic could depend on it.