Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: Vaccine Nationalism)

Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination


Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination


Topic: Vaccine Nationalism

Vaccine Nationalism

Context

  • Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. The way emerging vaccines will be distributed to those who need them is not yet clear.
  • The United States has now twice indicated that it would like to secure priority access to doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Other countries, including India and Russia, have taken similar stances. This prioritisation of domestic markets has become known as vaccine nationalism.
  • India, alongside the US and Russia, chose not to join the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, which was launched by the World Health Organization to promote collaboration among countries in the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

Vaccine Nationalism and Its Working

  • Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries. This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.
  • Vaccine nationalism is not new. ( During the early stages of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, some of the wealthiest countries entered into pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies working on H1N1 vaccines.

Side-Effects of Vaccine Nationalism

  • The most immediate effect of vaccine nationalism is that it further disadvantages countries with fewer resources and bargaining power.
  • This ‘vaccine nationalism’ is not only morally reprehensible; it is the wrong way to reduce transmission globally. And global transmission matters: If countries with a large number of cases lag in obtaining the vaccine and other medicines, the disease will continue to disrupt global supply chains and, as a result, economies around the world.
  • The race to defeat which should be based on "global public good" The other is competitive, a battle between nations that's being described as ‘vaccine nationalism.’
  • Vaccine nationalism also runs against the fundamental principles of vaccine development and global public health. Most vaccine development projects involve several parties from multiple countries.

Way Out

  • Experts in epidemiology, virology, and the social sciences — not politicians — should take the lead in devising and implementing science-based strategies to reduce the risks that COVID-19 poses to the most vulnerable across the globe and to reduce transmission of this novel virus for all of us.
  • To avoid ineffective nationalistic responses, we need a centralized, trusted governance system to ensure the appropriate flow of capital, information, and supplies.
  • International institutions — including the WHO — should coordinate negotiations ahead of the next pandemic to produce a framework for equitable access to vaccines during public health crises. Equity entails both, affordability of vaccines and access opportunities for populations across the world, irrespective of geography and geopolitics.