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Coronavirus vaccine hoarding: three reasons it’s in rich countries’ own interests to be generous
- Wealthy nations and big pharma must realise that their inaction on vaccine equity will cost lives, but action will cost them almost nothing
- If they continue hoarding vaccines, they are undermining the fundamental principles, values and beliefs of their rules-based world view
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It is a universally acknowledged truth that a world in possession of vaccines must be in need of equitable vaccine distribution.
The calls for vaccine equity are growing louder. Last month, the People’s Vaccine Alliance mobilised 170 former heads of state and Nobel Laureates to sign an open letter to the Biden administration. In March, over 1,000 experts in science, public health and law published an open letter in the British Medical Journal addressed to all global leaders.
And yet, there have been no meaningful changes in rich countries’ vaccine policies. Having already secured 53 per cent of current supplies (despite having only 14 per cent of the global population), these countries continue signing contracts for more doses, booster shots and possible new vaccine variants.
The World Health Organization chief called vaccine hoarding “a catastrophic moral failure” and the head of UNAids labelled the situation “vaccine apartheid”; these are strong statements from organisations with every incentive to keep their main funders (rich countries) happy.
A study by the US National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that rich countries may suffer losses of up to US$2.6 trillion in 2021 if poor countries vaccinate their populations slower than they do. The phrase “no one is safe until everyone is safe” is a pragmatic global public health and economic recovery strategy, not just an empty slogan.
Why do rich countries continue to hoard vaccines? Maybe they are stuck in path-dependent inertia, bound by decisions made months ago, hostage to domestic realities, or want to respond to citizen, voter or taxpayer demands.
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