Rich countries vaccinate one person per second, but most poor countries still haven’t given a single dose

When a year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic and millions of vaccines are produced every day, the People’s Vaccine Alliance has warned that poor or developing countries suffer from a critical shortage of the only vaccine. effective tool to date to deal with the disease which accounts for nearly 120 million infections and more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide.

A few days ago, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, denounced that more than 130 countries had not received a single dose COVID-19 vaccines on February 17 and denounced that 75% of vaccines applied so far were concentrated in only 10 countries, all developed.

“At this critical time, the greatest moral test facing the world community is the fairness in distribution vaccines. We need to make sure that everyone, everywhere, can get vaccinated as quickly as possible, ”he said and regretted that despite this, the progress in immunization has been“ enormous. unequal and unfair“.

As published Oxfam, an international confederation made up of 19 non-governmental organizations, which carry out humanitarian actions in 90 countries, most underdeveloped countries have not yet been able to administer a single dose of the vaccine, while rich countries immunized their populations at the rate of one person per second last month.

“The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union block a proposal presented by more than 100 developing countries, which will be debated this week in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and which would end the monopoly of pharmaceutical companies and increase the production of safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19. This action must be taken urgently to ensure that the poorest countries can access the doses of these vaccines that they desperately need. More poor countries are expected to receive vaccine doses in the coming days thanks to the World Health Organization’s Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccine Mechanism, also known as COVAX; however, the vaccine shortage means that, by the middle of this year, only 3% of the population of these countries will have been vaccinated, and a fifth, in the best case, by the end of 2021 ” , they assured.

A million people around the world have signed an appeal promoted by the Alliance “Popular vaccine” – una plataforma de organizaciones de activismo como Oxfam, Frontline AIDS, UN SIDA, Global Justice Now y el Centro Yunus – para exigir a los países ricos that dejen de anteponer el monopolio y los beneficiaries de las grandes empresas farmacéuticas en detrimento de las vidas de the people. On March 11, protests will take place outside the headquarters of pharmaceutical companies, as part of a global day of action led by activists from around the world.

Surveys conducted by YouGov for the Alliance in the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom reveal that, on average, more than two-thirds of the population of these countries (69%) believe that governments should ensure that scientific knowledge about the vaccine is shared with qualified manufacturing companies around the world, rather than remaining wholly owned by a few pharmaceutical giants, and those who created the vaccines should be adequately compensated.

“We have already lost two and a half million lives worldwide due to this brutal disease, which most countries are fighting without adequate medical care or vaccines.. By letting a small group of pharmaceutical companies decide who lives and who dies, rich countries are prolonging this unprecedented global health emergency, risking countless more lives. At this crucial time, developing countries need support, not opposition, ”explained Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher.

And he warns that history could repeat itself in South Africa, Malawi and other countries on the African continent. In the early 2000s, millions of people died as a result of pharmaceutical companies’ monopoly on effective HIV treatments, to which they set inaccessible prices that amounted to around $ 10,000 per year. Lois Chingandu, activist and director of research and influence at Frontline AIDS, says that “in Zimbabwe I lost many dear friends who, in their last moments, could barely breathe. It’s a cruel irony that activists who fought tirelessly for free HIV treatment are now dying from COVID-19 because, once again, the benefits of pharmaceuticals come before human lives. “

Finally, it was possible to end the monopoly of pharmaceutical companies on anti-HIV drugs, allowing the mass production of cheap and effective treatments to treat people with HIV, millions of people who are still alive today and who, otherwise, they would be dead.

For the manufacture of vaccines

More than 100 developing countries led by South Africa and India will advocate again this week at the WTO for the need for an exemption from trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS), this would remove the legal barriers that prevent more countries and production companies from manufacturing vaccines, thus protecting their populations and contributing to subsequent economic recovery.

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and one of the leaders of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, asserts that “this proposal, which is a manifestation of human solidarity that would ensure that the whole human family receives medicines and medicines at the same time. vaccines, is not just an act of charity, it actually serves the interests of the rich world. “And I add:”We must act now. There is no reverse. It is totally unfair that rich countries, which have enough vaccines to protect their citizens, they block the TRIPS exemption, which could help poorer countries get the vaccines they need ”.

It turns out that major vaccine developers have benefited from billions of dollars in government subsidies, but pharmaceutical companies have been granted a monopoly on their production, as well as the profits they generate. At the same time, all over the world there are companies qualified to produce vaccines that would be ready to do so en masse if they had access to the necessary technologies and knowledge, which pharmaceutical companies have kept under lock and key until now. . This new production capacity could start to be exploited within a few months. Suhaib Siddiqi, former director of the chemistry department at Moderna, the company that produced one of the first approved vaccines, said that with the right prototypes and the right technical advice, a modern factory should have the capacity to produce vaccines. up to three or four months.

France called for increased production in developing countries, while the United States took steps to increase its. However, so far, the two countries continue to defend the monopoly of pharmaceutical companies. To control the virus, it is imperative that sufficient doses of vaccines are produced in different parts of the world and at an affordable price, that these vaccines are distributed equitably around the world, and that they are administered free of charge to local communities. So far, we do not meet any of these four requirements.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UN AIDS, says that after so much self-sacrifice, sacrifice and heroism on the part of many, the Alliance for a Universal Vaccine denounces hypocrisy and the void of human solidarity , and myopic selfishness that undermines efforts to control the virus in countries ”. “We will only achieve this through a global mobilization to increase vaccine production and rapidly increase the number of doses available at an affordable price,” he lamented.

For his part, Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, points out that “a year after the start of the pandemic, it is scandalous that factories are shut down, unable to manufacture vaccines against COVID-19, simply because rich countries prioritize patents. pharmaceutical companies, to the detriment of the lives of people around the world. A worldwide patent suspension is necessary to accelerate the production of these vaccines around the world ”.

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