The surplus of vaccines in rich countries will deprive poor countries of a large number of vaccination opportunities.
December 9, the Thomson Reuters Foundation published an article saying that Amnesty International and other relevant organizations said on Wednesday that at present, rich countries have enough vaccines for the novel coronavirus, and by the end of 2021, they will have nearly three times the number of vaccines as many as the domestic population of these rich countries, resulting in the As a result, in poor and less developed countries, billions of people may lose their lives by being denied the opportunity to vaccinate.
According to the article, Amnesty International said that according to recent statistics, if urgent action is not taken, 67 poor countries in the world will only vaccinate one in ten of their population against the novel coronavirus next year.
According to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, composed of Oxfam, Amnesty International and Global Justice is in Action, the latest research data shows that rich countries, which account for only 14% of the world’s population, have bought 53% of the most promising vaccines at present.
The report said that considering the size of the population, Canada is currently the country that buys the most vaccine, because it has enough doses to vaccinate each Canadian five times.
In addition, Reuters reported on the 2nd that the British government has approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer, and the UK has ordered 40 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer, enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
The U.S. government has placed an initial order for 100 million doses of vaccines from Pfizer, and another 500 million doses can be purchased. The EU has booked 200 million doses of vaccines and has reserved 100 million doses for additional purchase.
Japan ordered 120 million doses, and many countries in South America and the Asia-Pacific region also placed large orders.
All of Modena’s shares and 96% of Pfizer/Biotech’s vaccines have now been acquired by Wells Fargo, according to the alliance’s report. The report mentions that although AstraZeneca and Oxford University promise to provide a 64% share of the population in developing countries by 2021, this can only cover up to 18% of the world’s population.
Based on this situation, the People’s Vaccine Alliance urges governments and the pharmaceutical industry to take action to ensure that the intellectual property rights of vaccines are widely shared.
The World Health Organization has repeatedly called on governments this year to make a vaccine against the novel coronavirus into “public goods”. The World Health Organization has also launched a global vaccine program called COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Plan), which seeks to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines.
At present, 189 countries have joined, but the United States has not yet joined. COVAX hopes to provide 2 billion doses of vaccine globally by the end of 2021, but this still accounts for only about 20% of the population of the countries participating in the mechanism.
