Covid vaccines and poor countries

The photos of the first people who received the Covid-19 vaccination did not make everyone in the world happy. In countries such as Zimbabwe, Mexico, and Pakistan, the struggle to obtain this vaccine can be long and tortuous.

Watching the vaccine launch in the UK, Lois Chingandu is not excited-she is worried. Like most of us, she is looking forward to getting the vaccine and getting her life back to normal. But unlike many people now, she couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It is not clear when her country, Zimbabwe, will be vaccinated. She said: "Right now, it's just a question of sitting and hoping we can get it for the rest of our lives." "I'm worried that I will sign with Kovic and die because I sit down." It sounds exaggerated, but she has seen it before. Something similar.

Ms. Chingandu is engaged in HIV prevention work. In the late 1990s, she saw thousands of people die of AIDS every day in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Drugs can be used to stop it-but only for those who can afford it. She said: "Ultimately, when the privileged decide it is time to save the poor, we will get the vaccine."

Ms. Chingandu is a member of a movement called the "People's Vaccine Alliance", which has warned wealthy countries-especially the United States, the United Kingdom, European Union countries and Canada-to hoard vaccines.

According to researchers at Duke University who are tracking transactions between the government and vaccine companies, a few countries receive more supplies than their populations actually need. Canada has obtained enough vaccines to vaccinate the entire population five times.

These countries took the risk of purchasing the vaccine before it proved effective, which in turn helped fund its development. Ms. Chingandu and the "People's Vaccine Movement" believe that this process is unfair. They said that excess vaccines should be redistributed to countries that need them.

To date, 189 countries have signed the Covax plan, which is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a group of international vaccine advocacy organizations. The purpose is to unite the country into a group so that they have more power to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies.

Among these countries, 92 countries (all low-income or middle-income countries) will be funded by donors to pay for vaccines. Britain has donated one billion U.S. dollars to the fund. The United States and Russia are the few countries that have not contributed. The remaining countries will buy vaccines through Covax, but they may get a better deal than negotiated separately.

So far, Covax has secured deals for three promising Covid-19 vaccines. However, currently, the plan only covers the dose required to cover 20% of the population of a country.