Vaccine distribution calls for equity, not ‘Vaccine Nationalism’

At present, the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading globally. The variants of the virus have increased the uncertainty of the global anti-epidemic work. Vaccine is a critical tool against the pandemic and the process of vaccination decides if the anti-epidemic work could succeed or not. However, some developed countries, such as the United States, have demonstrated undisguised ‘Vaccine Nationalism’ and hoarded vaccines in large quantities, contributing significantly to unequal global allocation of vaccines and hindered the process of pandemic containment.

Widening gap in vaccine allocation

Medical scientists believe that herd immunity can be achieved after the vaccinated population reaches 70% to 90%. At present, in some developed countries including the United States, Britain, Israel, and Canada, more than 50% of the population have received at least one dose of the vaccine. According to data of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, considerable waste of vaccines has occurred in several regions of the country. The federal government distributed 371 million doses of vaccines to the states, while only 301 million have been inoculated and 70 million have been left unused. In contrast, Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, recently warned that the third wave of the pandemic is raging in the African continent and many people are in danger, while the first-dose vaccination rate of in Africa still remains at 2%, even 1% in Sub-Saharan Africa.

‘Vaccine Nationalism’ draws widespread criticism

Since the beginning of this year, developed countries such as the United States have stubbornly clung to the domestic-need-first principle, which, along with some interest groups’ purposes for personal gain, have worsened ‘Vaccine Nationalism’, the phenomenon that ‘who developed the vaccine, who has exclusive access to it’.

In February, the Biden administration cited the Defense Production Act to impose export control over the raw materials of vaccines and emphasized that vaccines would be preferentially supplied for Americans. The move not only has largely prevented other countries from obtaining vaccines from the United States, but also seriously influenced vaccine production in regions outside the United States. In the face of criticisms, Biden claims that the United States could be a base to supply vaccines to other countries only if every American has the opportunity to be vaccinated.

While advanced countries go to great lengths to compete for and swoop up large quantities of vaccines, many developing countries have found themselves simply left out. Ignoring the spread of the pandemic in less developed countries is equivalent to supplying natural petri dishes for the variation of the virus.

Chinese vaccines help bridge the global ‘immunity gap’

China has proactively boosted research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and promised to use it as a global public good, which shows China’s sense of responsibility as a major country. By early June, China had donated vaccines to more than 80 countries and exported to more than 40 countries, 350 million doses in total, and cooperated with several developing countries to produce vaccines. Compared with other vaccines, Chinese vaccines don’t need extreme refrigeration and can better adapt to the sanitary conditions and current situation of developing countries. Nowadays, two vaccines, from SINOPHARM and SINOVAC, have been approved for emergency use by the WHO, which demonstrates that the safety, validity, and convenience of China vaccines have been globally admitted, which also means Chinese vaccines will bring new solutions to bridging the global “immunity gap”.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a common challenge for all mankind, which needs countries to cooperate. China appeals for all parties to adhere to multilateralism and abandon “Vaccine Nationalism” to ensure such public goods as vaccines and diagnostic reagents are fairly allocated, to guarantee the pandemic prevention and response mechanisms can become sustainable, to help developing countries obtain more vaccines sooner via more practical actions, to promote the construction of human health community, and to work together to protect a better future for global public health.

Contributed by Yao Kun, Deputy Director of Institute of World Political Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

Translated by Fei Jinglun