COVID-19 has demonstrated how vital vaccines are to citizens throughout the world. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists around the world have been working constantly to find a vaccine to protect people against this disease. In previous times, vaccines weren’t even an option; they were only first developed in the eighteenth century. The first vaccine was introduced in 1796 by Edward Jenner and was used to protect against smallpox (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). Vaccines are used for dozens of diseases in order to prevent widespread pandemics, like the one we are living through today. I argue that there are substantial differences regarding vaccines in underdeveloped versus developed countries.

Underdeveloped countries have less access to vaccines, while developed countries are able to create laws mandating vaccine usage. Moreover, I demonstrate that globalization has had a large impact on the usage of vaccines, as travel, migration, and trade have impacted the global structure. Lastly, I discuss the necessity of vaccines, and why they are safer than the disease itself. Vaccines are essential to the international political economy of everyday life, as they are vital to saving lives.

Vaccines are used for a wide range of diseases. These include diseases like Rubella, that is spread by coughing and sneezing, HPV, which is spread through vaginal, anal, or oral sex, Polio, which can be spread through stool (feces), sneezing, or coughing (CDC), and dozens of more diseases that can be spread in a number of different ways. Common vaccines used across developed countries today are the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella), the polio vaccine (IPV), and the chickenpox vaccine (varicells).The proliferation of vaccines and access to them was expanded by the "Expanded Programme on Immunization" that was introduced in 1974. Since the program was introduced, children's vaccinations increased from 15 to 90 percent. These vaccines are now often required for children entering schools and other programs. Moreover, these vaccines have improved the survival rate of children through their effectiveness. For example, the MMR vaccine--which prevents measles, mumps and rubella, has a 97 percent effective rate. Furthermore, the vaccine for Polio is almost 100 percent effective after three doses. In general, the adoption of vaccination/immunization as a practice has improved life expectancy.

Globalization plays two vital roles in vaccination. Because of new transportation methods, people are able to travel, migrate, and trade across the world. Instead of previous diseases that were confined to one space/ country, they are now able to spread worldwide (as we are now seeing with Covid-19). Vaccines are necessary to stop the spread and/ or prevent illnesses from moving across the globe. In 2005, International Health Regulations revised how countries would report outbreaks, share information regarding diseases, the vaccine research, deal with outbreaks, and minimize travel and trade outside the infected zone (Balaam). While globalization may allow for the more rapid spread of illness, it also has its benefits. For example, globalization allows academics and medical researchers in developed countries to travel to less developed countries and use their education and skills to develop vaccines there. Moreover, it allows the transfer of education from the researchers and specialists to people who live in less developed countries (Milstien). Globalization makes vaccines a necessity for all countries, as illnesses have no limits thanks to travel, migration, and trade. Globalization also allows for researchers and development to flow from a developed country to a less developed country.

There need to be many reforms made so that vaccines can be introduced in developing countries. The first reform that must be made is in terms of markets, as “market forces do not always serve low- income countries well” (GAVI). The lack of markets within developing countries is a major factor influencing research and development. Before creating new vaccines and medicines, pharmaceutical companies need to be certain they will see a return on their investments in research and development.

Moreover, developing countries need to strengthen their intellectual property laws because if they don’t, then pharmaceutical companies won’t want to create vaccines there, as they have no protection (Milstien). Patents protect economic incentives relating to exclusivity and monopolies (Martens). Pharmaceutical companies will not want to move/ set up their business in places without strong intellectual property laws because their products can be easily stolen. Strong intellectual property laws encourage innovation because it benefits research and science companies by rewarding them with a monopoly, and in turn, large profits.

On top of this, developing nations need to increase the number of academic institutions committed to researching diseases and vaccines, the manufacturing process needs to be improved and accelerated, the number of safe clinical trials needs to be increased, and the public must be knowledgeable about vaccines before its introduction (Greenwood).

Vaccines are an essential component to the international political economy of everyday life. Vaccines serve the purpose of preventing and treating dangerous diseases that may lead to worldwide pandemics. Since the first vaccine was invented in 1796, millions of lives have been saved and millions of illnesses have been prevented, with some vaccines even having a 99-100% effectiveness rate. Unfortunately there are differences between less developed and developed countries that must be fixed in order for vaccines to be accessible to all global citizens. Moreover, globalization has made vaccination a necessity due to all the traveling, migration, and trade that takes place. On top of all of this, vaccinations are incredibly safe- safer than the diseases they prevent and protect against, which is why they need to be internationally accessible. Vaccination has played a vital role in the international political economy since its creation, and it’s still incredibly important to this day.