The ghost of a vaccine shortage haunts the world …

The shortage of vaccines against the coronavirus is today the main concern of governments in all countries of the world. In a scenario where laboratory production does not cover the enormous demand, companies do not grant patents and the most powerful nations monopolize doses, The European Union has threatened laboratories to shut down vaccine exports until they comply with deliveries to member countries. Germany, at a time, warned that you don’t have enough doses to slow a third wave, In the UK, it has been learned that vaccine supply will be drastically reduced from March 29 and analyzes from Spain, like other countries, give a single dose to generate collective immunity. In Latin America, the situation is even more delicate: Brazil has financial problems to buy the antidote and Paraguay and Uruguay have collapsed their health systems and difficulties in accessing vaccines. The concern of the Argentine government is growing as negotiations with various laboratories continue and doses continue to be received to deal with the second wave of infections, which approaches with the onset of autumn.

During Thursday’s press conference, President Alberto Fernández wanted to warn against this international conflict. “Only 18 countries have received 88 percent of the vaccines that have been distributed so far and only 15 of them have received more than 10 percent of the vaccines they have purchased.” This is the reality of the world in 2021: shortages, inequalities and delay in vaccines, ”warned the president.

In recent weeks, in Argentina, the vaccination process and the arrival of new doses have accelerated. So far 3,134,454 doses have been applied and the Minister of Health, Carla Vizzotti, on Friday announced the arrival of 330,000 Sputnik V. In addition, a flight with more antidotes from Russia will arrive in the next few hours and, although the exact amount is not yet known, between Tuesday and Thursday three million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm will arrive. However, at Casa Rosada, concerns are growing in the face of a global context that is becoming more complex every day with regard to access to vaccines.

In an interview published this Sunday, Russian Ambassador to Argentina Dmitri Feoktistov assured that during the last conversation the president had with his counterpart, Vladimir Putin, he said that “Argentina is our priority” , only that something happens to them that has happened all over the world: lack of capacity to produce the necessary quantity ”. “Our contract with Argentina will be respected, but we have breaks that we would not have wanted”, he welcomed and estimated that the delivery could be fulfilled in its entirety during this year. In addition, he recalled the existence of agreements to produce the vaccine in Argentina, which “would be of great help in improving the situation”.

Scarcity: a global problem

The case of the EU is paradigmatic about how central countries exert pressure to store vaccines. This Saturday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, announced that she would keep the exports of the British company AstraZeneca in Belgium if it did not deliver the vaccine doses agreed to in Brussels, to deliver doses to countries who are not. is part of the EU. “We have the option to block planned exports, this is AstraZeneca’s message: you first fulfill your contract with Europe, then you start supplying other countries,” said Von Der Leyen.

Earlier this month, Italy implemented a measured similar to preventing the departure of a shipment of 225,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia. When the media asked for an explanation, close to the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Mario Draghi, they expressed that the decision “was not against Australia”, but “against the company, which did not respect this. which is stipulated in his contract with Italy. ”

The most powerful countries in the EU, like Germany, equal they still lack vaccines. German Health Minister Jens Spahn last week warned that “there are not enough vaccines in Europe to stop a third wave.” Concerned that the numbers will rise again, Spahn said that “when the elderly are vaccinated, we can talk about openings.” Find out when the vaccines are going to be. “

UK also suffers from shortages. In a letter made public last week, the health service warned vaccination centers across England of a “significant reduction” in supplies from March 29 that would last for a month. This country is implementing the application of a single dose to reach more people vaccinated in less time.

Spain analyzes to mimic this strategy and due to lack of vaccines reported that people who already had a covid will only receive one request. In addition, They will stop the application of the first doses to people over 80 years to guarantee the second to people over 90 years.. Other countries such as Denmark, Hungary or Poland, due to the slowness of European laboratories, have started to negotiate vaccines with China and Russia.

The Covax system, proposed as a solidarity alternative to the distribution of vaccines, has not met the expectations of many countries which have invested in it. Last week, Paraguay, facing a health collapse, expressed “dissatisfaction” with the late arrival of doses. Brazil, one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic, has serious problems paying for the antidote. Former President Inácio “Lula” Da Silva has called on US President Joe Biden to call a G20 meeting to address this issue and for central countries to donate their surplus. In this context, the demand for patenting vaccines is gaining more force than ever, a proposal promoted by India and South Africa, which the Argentine Government fully supports.