a recipe for hope: how to vaccinate the world and end the pandemic

there is new reason for hope in ending unequal vaccine access and finding a global resolution for the pandemic.  researchers at baylor college in texas have developed a vaccine  based on established technology and common handling and refrigeration techniques. best of all, they have no intention of filing a patent but have concrete plans for large-scale manufacturing in the global south.

while prior vaccine development occurred with stunning speed, supply has overwhelmingly favoured high-income countries and, as a result,  lengthened the pandemic for all . this, despite research and development that has been heavily subsidized by the public, who have paid again and again for the end product.  moderna  has been the recipient of billions of dollars from the u.s. government; the  pfizer-biontech  vaccine counts the german public as a research sponsor.

it is a painful irony that a patent-free vaccine has been financially  supported  by private philanthropy while public funds have facilitated patented technology. shouldn’t publicly funded products belong to the public? at a minimum, shouldn’t we temporarily waive intellectual property rights via the trips waiver so that vaccines can be available to fight the global pandemic?

protected by patents and controlled by a few large producers, the first vaccines were promised and sold to the highest bidders. low- and middle-income countries have been an afterthought, despite organizations like the  african union  and countries like  bolivia  that are willing and ready to purchase vaccines themselves. even when many high-income countries have engaged in charity-by-vaccine, doses are delivered  just prior to expiry , without time for receiving countries to plan and communicate vaccination campaigns and resulting in enormous waste.

wealthy countries are now undertaking fourth doses for some of their citizens, while  fewer than 10 per cent  of people in low-income countries have received at least a single dose.  canada has now administered more third doses than we have donated through covax , the global vaccine access mechanism. yet, variants of concern emerge anywhere that the virus is replicating unabated – and threaten all of us.

let us be clear: to date, the current system has not delivered a public-health and equity-based solution. it has pitted countries against each other in a zero-sum game, outbidding one another, stockpiling vaccines and, when it suits them, charitably donating leftovers. the pharmaceutical industry has  admitted its failure  to provide global, equitable supply.

• supporting a trips waiver, recognizing that public health supersedes intellectual property rights;
• urgently supplying covax with adequate notice of quantities and logistical material;
• reconsidering manufacturing facilities, transferring technical knowledge and creating mechanisms to ensure equitable public benefit of innovative medical technology.

this article is republished from healthy debate under a creative commons license. read the original article.

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a recipe for hope: how to vaccinate the world and end the pandemic

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