Public health campaigners have warned that the few charitable donations from rich countries to developing countries will not be sufficient to ensure equitable access to lifesaving shots.
Now the vehicle through which many such donations have flowed — Covax — is reportedly out of moneyThis could be a disaster for low income countries that have come rely on the United Nations-backed initiative
This is especially worrying as pharmaceutical companies and governments in rich countries continue to deny the developing nations the ability to produce vaccines. own soil.
Seth Berkley, chief executive of Gavi —The vaccine alliance that helped form Covax — told the Financial Times on Monday that Covax will no longer be able to accept new dose donations that come without syringes or other components because it doesn’t have any cash left to afford such items, which donor countries often don’t provide.
Asked how much money the project has left, Berkley answered bluntly: “None.”
It can be combined with its repeated failures to meet delivery targets, Covax’s financial woes added fuel to the argumentIt was inevitable that a vaccination program that was dependent on the charitable efforts of wealthy countries and profit-seeking pharmaceutical firms would fail.
“This is why the charity model of vaccine delivery cannot work. We hoarded doses, made big promises, and yet…” Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, tweeted in response to Berkley’s comments. “Share the technology NOW for mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.”
“Pfizer and Moderna are prolonging this pandemic with their greed,” he added, singling out the U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies that produce the only mRNA coronavirus vaccines on the market.
Despite benefitingMassively from public funding, the corporations have refused to share their vaccine recipes with the world — and the Biden administration has thus far declined to use its legal authorityTo force their hands.
These companies also lobbied aggressivelyA patent waiver that would allow for generic coronavirus vaccines to be produced in developing countries without any restrictions would be opposed fear of legal retribution. A handful of rich nations — including members of the European Union and the United Kingdom — have sided with Big Pharma by stonewalling the proposed waiver at the World Trade Organization.
Activists…
in 2020: We can’t donate our way out of a pandemic
in 2021: We can’t donate our way out of a pandemic
in 2022: We can’t donate our way out of a pandemic@BorisJohnsonCan we now, finally support real solutions👉 https://t.co/Kwa0oaESxN https://t.co/DMkHTQ9eNk
— The People’s Vaccine (@peoplesvaccine) January 25, 2022
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saidMonday, Covax delivered its billionth dose of the coronavirus vaccine earlier this month. Berkley was not there. predictedRecent remarks indicated that the next billion would be released in the next four to five months.
Since its inception, in 2020, the vaccine delivery effort was hampered by internal dysfunctionBoth pharmaceutical and medical companies not living upCovax was left with fewer doses than expected due to contractual obligations. Doses have often arrived in recipient countries late or near their expiration dates. This has led to a lack of adequate supply. significant waste.
“Don’t get me wrong, Covax delivering a billion doses is a great achievement. Their goal was to deliver two million. [in 2021],” Max Lawson, head of inequality policy at Oxfam International and co-chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance, notedLast week.
“In our view,” he added, “the key problem is a deep lack of accountability, combined with a supine naivete by Covax leadership in response to pharma companies and rich nations. This led to overly rosy projections throughout 2021 and this is continuing today.”
Berkley said last week that Covax will need $5.2 billion to fund its vaccination efforts this year, as the world continues to fight the highly transmissible Omicron variant — and looks ahead to potential new mutationsIn the future.
“We need this money now because we know that without it, we will face further delays in accessing and securing supplies and helping countries deliver vaccines into arms,” said Berkley.
But experts and campaigners argue Covax’s struggles make clear that far more ambitious action — from technology transfersTo suspend intellectual property protections regional manufacturing initiatives — is needed to produce enough vaccine doses to meet global needs and ensure equal distribution.
To date, just 9.7%According to Our World in Data, at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine has been administered to people living in low-income countries. A recent analysis estimatedTo end the global pandemic, the world will need 22 billion more mRNA doses.
“The way to end a pandemic is to close the inequalities that are existing,” Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, saidDuring a virtual event last Wednesday. “Instead, rich countries have chosen to take a different path of expanding inequalities.”
“We are not going to be out of this,” she added, “until we close those inequalities.”
