Vaccine Apartheid?
My parents, both in their 80s, have already received their first COVID vaccination and will receive the second booster in a few weeks’ time. A friend has received three separate offers of a vaccination due to her work and voluntary activities. Meantime, for another friend in a very different part of the world, there is absolutely no suggestion that a vaccine might come in the next few years.
Mass vaccination has started in many countries [Photo credit: REUTERS.]
Rich countries continue to buy up what vaccines they can and in vast quantities. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 people living in the poorest countries will not receive a vaccine this year. South Africa has paid more than double the price for its AstraZeneca vaccine than the European Union and for far fewer doses than it requires. Some have called this unequal distribution of vaccine, “Vaccine Apartheid”; essentially another example of the them and us, ‘looking after number one’ approach to life as typically exhibited by wealthy nations. One senior African policymaker was overheard saying he had never seen African leaders so angry at western leadership.
For the World Health Organisation, fair allocation of vaccines means every country being able to vaccinate 20% of their population (enough to cover vulnerable groups) before vaccinating above the 20% mark. Analysis by The ONE Campaign (Our World in Data: Max Roser, et al (2021)) has made projections for each nation as to when they can expect to reach their 20% vaccination level.
Based on the current rate at which vaccinations are being carried out, the United Kingdom would expect to hit this level by 11th February 2021.
Incredibly, China, despite its vast and dispersed population, expect to hit their 20% by 22nd March 2021. Canada will reach 20% by March this year and the USA in April.
In contrast, Mexico will not be able to cover its vulnerable until October 2034 (not a typo) and Spain until 2024. Practically the whole of Africa and Asia and the majority of countries in South America have not started significant vaccination schemes at all. Indeed, many don’t have vaccines. At their current rate of vaccination, it is impossible to predict i.e. we are talking about years, not days or even months.
“I need to be blunt: the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure - and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world’s poorest countries.
— Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization
For this doomsday scenario not to be realised, something needs to change. Essentially, the decision-makers in wealthy nations need to think beyond themselves and their citizens and, perhaps for the first time in their history, genuinely think in terms of the global family of which we are all a part and in which some are more vulnerable than others and need the help of the more powerful. That is a massive jump in thinking.
Incidentally, for those not persuaded by moral reasoning, there is a strong economic argument that a physically healthier world means an economically healthier world.
Irish Methodist World Development & Relief urges us all to do three things:
Educate ourselves on the issues (it can be complicated) and here are some recommendations:
Tell others
Sign up to receive Aftershocks from ONE and share with others
Use our voices
Online petition at Oxfam
It has been shown before, that mass lobbying influences our politicians. Let us hope and pray that enough of us have enough humanity to ensure COVID vaccines are distributed fairly. Perhaps this is the opportunity to act as a global family with a common purpose, beneficial for all, for the very first time. Acting justly so that everyone can have “life in all its fullness”.