The global rift in Covid-19 vaccines availability

Let's play Covid! Rules of the game are simple and unambiguous: use face masks and covers, practice physical distancing, wash, sanitize your hands regularly and get vaccinated as soon as possible. But this Covid game comes with political hyperbole, "No individual can win the game until all the people win the game."

The global rift in Covid-19 vaccines availability [Courtesy: Nataliya Vaitkevich]

Over billions of people around the world are suddenly forced to quarantine themselves. We orchestrated our end-game, or we would say a reality show like Big Boss or the colossal human experiment since life on earth was born. We have experimented with us like guinea pigs all along.

On March 24, 2020, the Indian Prime Minister addressed the nation and said, "If we fail to manage the upcoming 21 days, we will be pushed back for 21 years." As the hands of the clock handcuffed together, our dear India went back to 21 years. The nationwide lockdown in India officially lasted for sixty-eight days. In the pandemic, India was one of the most afflicted nations. 

With a population of 138 crores, India is also the largest producer of vaccines by volume. Vaccine manufacturers of India provide vaccines to UNICEF, which then make available to Africa, South Africa and Asia. India had exported more than 6 million vaccines to the world but failed to secure vaccines for its vulnerable population.

To add more to this, India and South Africa accosted the WTO last October to grant TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) waiver for all Covid related drugs and technology. The ignorance of WTO and the deliberate denial of the world's leaders led to the struck down of the proposal. It hampered the boosting and diversification of vaccine production to immunize 'poor countries'.

Soon as the pandemic began to lock the entire world. Developed countries like the US, Canada, UK, Israel settled a bilateral deal with Pharma giants to make the fastest vaccine ever. The US alone funded $10 billion in aid to vaccine manufacturers and ensured the monopoly on vaccines for rich countries.

On the other hand, developed countries pledged to support vaccine manufacturing and availability to needy countries through multilateral deals with COVAX, a world vaccine alliance directed by Gavi. The Gavi procure vaccines for developing and underdeveloped countries at less rate or even free of cost. To increase production and cost-effectively procure vaccines, 

Pharma companies were cynical and hesitant to share their life-saving technology with other manufactures in poorer countries.

The 'feudal charity system' of vaccines exposes the pandemic we have been ignoring. Power and Corruption is a neglected pandemic. In the 2009 swine flu epidemic, despite promises to secure an equitable distribution of swine flu vaccine, wealthy countries, including the United States and Australia, banned exports. 

The CDC estimated that up to 575,000 people, certainly in the developing world, may have died as a result. In this pandemic, Pharma giants like AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna only intend to make a profit. It's not the first time that the Pharma industry trade human lives over patents. 

The affordability of HIV drugs was costly and nearly unaffordable for underprivileged people. But in 2001, the Indian Pharma Cipla's determination to allow generic medicines for $350 per patient per year instead of more than $10,000.

The move landed a blow on the corrupted pharma industry across the world. We must not forget that the global cancer therapy market valued at approximately USD 158 billion in 2020. Just imagine if pharma companies develop a vaccine for cancer, but they won't.

As the populace in poorer countries waits for their first dose of vaccines, the developed nations hoard vaccines and giving booster shots to their people. Israel's fourth wave and declining immunity have resulted in booster vaccination strategies. According to New York Times, In the US, more than 1 million doses of Covid vaccines have gone to waste since the nation began distributing vaccines in

December and Ireland warn wastage of thousands of vaccine doses in its country. Scholars and Academics have accused the leading vaccine manufacturers of violating human rights under article 27, which affirms that everyone has the right to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. The World Health Organization figures that one in 64 people in low-income countries has received at least one dose, compared with one in two in high-income countries.

This pandemic has been a wealth shifter for private education institutions, politicians, tech giants, pandemic scammers, Big Pharma, medical mal-practitioners, large MNCs such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, and a scheme of global health and economic elites by exploiting the rights of the people. We only saw the accumulation of wealth in few selected hands. Our lives have slipped into the world of censorship, sham science, fake news, manipulated data, fascist government rules and policies to expand their immense power and legacy, and I must mention the colourful vaccine certificates. Democracy has evolved to Technocracy, where authoritarians proliferate the emergency laws. The body politic is getting controlled like never before.

So, what we did to turn the tide? From the craze of declaring oneself Covid negative publicly to putting a status on the social media wall that we are privileged enough to get vaccinated. That's it. Our senseless awareness is catastrophically stupid and insensitive to those affected who couldn't afford oxygen to breathe.

"I had to wake up at 3 AM and wait for hours in the queue, and after several days I finally got my first dose," said a local resident of Kharagpur, West Bengal.

Note: This article reflects the opinion of the writer.

Author:

Abhishek Bhattacharyya