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- Stephanie hegarty
- BBC International reporter
Image source,fake images
Is vaccine production sufficient to supply the general public around the world?
Looking at the vaccine that was released in the UK this week, Lois Chingandu did not feel drugged, on the contrary, she was concerned. Like most of us, she’s also eager to get vaccinated and get back to her normal life.
But unlike many people at the time, she didn’t feel like she had seen the light at the end of the dark.
It is not yet clear when the vaccine will be available in his country, Zimbabwe.
“Now I can just sit back and wait, hoping that we can get it in my life,” he said. “I live in fear. I am afraid that because I sit here, I will contract the new crown and die.”
This may seem like an exaggeration, but Xindandu has seen very similar situations in the past.
He worked for an AIDS (HIV) prevention agency. In Harare (the capital of Zimbabwe) in the early 1990s, he saw thousands of people die every day from AIDS. At that time, there were drugs that could prevent deaths. Only those who can afford it can use it.
“Ultimately, it is up to those with vested interests to decide that it is time to save the poor, and then we will get the vaccine.
“The people’s vaccine”
This week, Xindandu participated in an initiative called “Popular Vaccine”, which aims to warn rich countries, especially the United States, the United Kingdom, European Union countries and Canada, not to stock up on vaccines.
Image source,fake images
The “popular vaccine” aims to ensure that countries like Zimbabwe also have the same opportunities.
“We know that most of the vaccines they have bought are more than three times the amount they need,” he said.
Some countries even buy more, and Canada will have enough vaccine stocks to vaccinate the entire population five times.
“Once they are delivered to the highest priority groups, there will be a surplus of vaccines. There is no discussion about shipping vaccines to poor countries to those who really need them,” Xindandu said.
This is only part of the truth. There is currently a wide-ranging global initiative dedicated to the distribution of vaccines around the world, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and an alliance of international vaccine advocacy groups.
The goal of this new corona vaccine protection mechanism (COVAX) is to bring countries in the same field together so that they can discuss with pharmaceutical companies.
Currently 189 countries participate. Among them, 92 are low- and middle-income countries, and donors will pay for the vaccines they use. Britain has donated $ 500 million to this fund.
Other countries will pay for the vaccine themselves, but they may get a better price than negotiating alone. They have now agreed on the prices of the three vaccines, but are still negotiating with all the leading vaccines.
However, COVAX itself is not enough. Mexico is one of the countries that participated in this plan by paying for the vaccine itself.
Timing is everything
Marta Delgado emphasized that vaccines should be promoted as soon as possible.
Marta Delgado is one of the main vaccine negotiators in Mexico. This job is quite difficult.
COVAX only covers 20% of the country’s population and the vaccine it ordered has not yet been approved.
“It is different if we receive the vaccine in January, February, March or May or July. Vaccination in these months is very important for Mexico.”
It is winter in Mexico and cases are increasing rapidly; any delay can be a matter of life and death.
That is why Delgado has always negotiated directly with pharmaceutical companies.
A critical moment came on October 13, when she and her team reached an agreement with three vaccine companies. They even ordered a small quantity of the first Pfizer vaccine to enter the market, which will be launched in Mexico in late December. The rest will be in place later.
“But at least in Mexico, we have money to buy vaccines,” he said. “I have seen other Latin American countries that do not have enough money to buy vaccines, and they are not really guaranteed that they will receive them.”
The vaccine currently developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has shown that it will not benefit from sales in developing countries.
The vaccine is an important part of the COVAX list, but is currently approved for use in any country. Furthermore, one vaccine is not sufficient for worldwide inoculation.
“Everybody is grabbing a piece of cake”
Image source,Faisal Sultan
Dr. Sultan said that before the efficacy of the vaccine is determined, some countries cannot afford to buy the vaccine.
Like Mexico, Pakistan is also in dialogue with the first vaccine manufacturer.
“We are definitely competing with the rich countries, and there is no question about that,” said Dr. Faisal Sultan of the Pakistan Ministry of Health. He is the central figure in negotiations.
“Everyone is grabbing a limited piece of cake. The size of the cake is now fixed and everyone wants to get a piece. Obviously this is a fight.”
He said the competitive situation so far is not bad, but they have not yet been able to guarantee any vaccine. Pakistan cannot afford to pay before knowing that the vaccine is effective.
“It is a luxury,” he said. “I think only a few countries could do this.”
“If we can get things done and the combination is right, we should be fine, but we can’t bet blind.”
Major universities in Pakistan are conducting clinical trials for the Chinese company CanSinoBio’s vaccine, which may help supply the country, but this is not an equivalent exchange at present.
Intellectual property issues
Furthermore, it is not a purely commercial issue. Marta Delgado acknowledged that Mexico’s good diplomatic relations were an important part of her successful negotiation of the agreement.
“Companies exist within the country,” Sultan also said, “and when talking about the country, all factors such as politics and alliances will have an impact. But at present, what we have tried to do is break with any geography. “. Political friction, it may or may not be possible. “
Xindandu and “People’s Vaccine” call for a more drastic approach than diplomacy or even COVAX.
They want vaccine companies to share their intellectual property rights so they can create a more versatile vaccine.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) met on Thursday to decide whether to abolish intellectual property rules; It will announce its decision on December 17, but most rich countries are opposed to this.
In most of the world, you just have to wait to get a vaccine.
“There will be people who will continue to die from the new coronavirus,” Xindandu said. “At the same time, people in other countries are living normal lives.”
