POOR COUNTRIES: NINE OUT OF TEN PEOPLE WITHOUT VACCINE
The People's Vaccine Alliance, a collation of organisations including Oxfam and Amnesty International, is calling on all pharmaceutical companies working on vaccines to openly share their technology and intellectual property through the World Health Organization so that billions more doses can be produced and safe and effective vaccines can be available to all those who need them. The appeal from the People's Vaccine Alliance is intended to make the COVID-19 vaccine a worldwide public good. The richest, just 14% of the world's population, have already secured 53 percent of the global supply.
The richest countries, according to the People's Vaccine Alliance, are on track to be able to vaccinate their populations approximately three times over by the end of 2021 assuming the vaccines currently in clinical trials are approved. Canada has actually secured more than that estimate—the Canadians have enough doses to vaccinate their population almost five times over. By contrast, in the poorest countries, only one in ten people can be vaccinated unless they are able to produce the doses necessary to meet their needs.
Poorer countries are also being hit by unfortunate realities that don’t exist in richer countries. Many of the countries suffering most from vaccine shortages are also experiencing shortage of healthcare workers, which hinders a country’s ability not only to fight COVID-19 but other diseases as well. In addition, the governments of poorer countries often suffer from an inability to effectively carry out mass vaccination.
Given the situation of many poor countries, the appeal by People’s Vaccine Alliance to increase vaccine distribution is addressed to those in power who can make the vaccine a global public good and a right for all. Framing the vaccine as a global public good is essential to ensuring that poorer countries have a fighting chance at addressing COVID-19.
MAKE THE PANDEMIC A TURNING POINT
In most countries, political leaders point out that the COVID-19 pandemic is a transitory problem. They argue that once we have a vaccine, life will go back to normal. We all know this is not the case. Even if it were the case, returning to the “normalcy” they envision includes the ever-increasing economic and social inequalities and disparities. The time has arrived to build a new normal, based on social justice, cooperation, and equal opportunities.
The People’s Vaccine Alliance’s decision to make their request directly to pharmaceutical companies is a start in creating this new reality. In addition, the appeal to the governments of rich countries will hopefully remind them that it is essential for all actors to redouble their efforts to promote accountability, transparency, tolerance, social cohesion, and inclusion as well as to ensure compliance with human rights obligations in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related recovery measures.
Rich countries have clear human rights obligations, not only to refrain from actions that could damage access to vaccines elsewhere, but to provide cooperation and assistance to countries that need vaccines. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) requires signatories to “take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights''. (Article 2.1) Specifically, states have a duty to prevent unreasonably high costs for access to essential medicines and vaccines (CESCR, General Comment No. 17). Rich countries also have obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
PUT ASIDE PRIVATE PROFIT
Given the challenges poor countries face regarding the vaccine and the spread of COVID-19, pharmaceutical companies should respond to the People’s Vaccine Alliance by putting their economic interests aside to ensure the vaccines become a global public good, are distributed equally, are distributed in accordance with global needs, and to administer vaccines free of charge to the population.
Anna Marriott, Head of Health Policy at Oxfam, recently summed this point up perfectly by noting that:
No one should be banned from having a life-saving vaccine because of the country they live in or the sum of money they have. (…) Even if something evolves radically, billions of people around the world will not obtain a secure and reliable vaccine for Covid-19 in the coming years.
Inquiries into the causes of human rights violations rarely go beyond the assumption that all violations can be explained by the intentional actions of evil, bossy and cruel individuals, excluding the possibility, for example, that the political principles at international level, the rules governing world trade, and the principles of the global economic order can also lead to violations of human rights. Pandemics seldom have a homogeneous impact on individuals. Poor people that have no health care access are left most vulnerable during a period of emergency. Poor people who do not have access to health care in ordinary situations are more vulnerable during times of crisis.
The uneven response to COVID-19 is already clear. Good life expectancy and death rates have traditionally been substantially unequal between the wealthiest and the poorest communities. The full implications of COVID-19 have yet to be observed as the disease continues to spread through the most vulnerable settings, including war zones, hospitals, and refugee camps. As the world economy continues to deteriorate and government aid assistance schemes proceed to emphasise production, limited assets must attempt to reduce inequality rather than exacerbate it. A vaccine against inequality has not yet been invented. This pandemic requires global solutions.
Cristina is a student at the Alma Mater Studiourum - University of Bologna, undertaking a Master's in International Cooperation on Human rights and Intercultural Heritage. She is a UN volunteer and a volunteer for the project EuRoPe, sponsored by the municipality of Ravenna. She is currently doing an internship at the Mission of Italy to the UN in Geneva.