Vaccines need to be fairly shared across the world
The past month’s news about several vaccines coming to fruition proves there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I, like many others, breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was confirmed Moderna, Pfizer and Oxford have developed vaccines. But alongside relief, I am also concerned.
The western world has already thrown money at a number of vaccines. As it stands, the UK now has access to 357 million doses of vaccines from seven different developers, according to the Gov. uk website.
We’re not the only country getting doses in the bag early. German officials have said the country hopes to secure up to 300 million doses and a number of man-sized freezers have already arrived at the southern town of Tuttlingen to hold the Pfizer vaccine, which has to be stored at -70 degrees.
The next few months are going to be dangerous.
I don’t mean in terms of the safety of each vaccine (that is a separate debate) but more so because each country is going to have to navigate this political playground, with third-world countries who are already at their knees economically scrambling to find the money to save their people.
Vaccine inequality kills, as more than 1.5m people die each year due to vaccinepreventable diseases. Coronavirus is only going to blow this into proportions we can’t currently comprehend.
It is not survival of the fittest, it is survival thanks to a vaccine.
The current standard for vaccines is to be kept at two to eight degrees and that is extremely difficult in developing countries which experience temperatures up to 50 degrees.
You may believe that because you are lucky enough to live in a country which has bought vaccines, you are safe. But unfortunately that is simply untrue – as long as the virus spreads, we are all at risk. We know that it can mutate.
The Access to COVID-19 Tools project launched by the World Health Organisation is already working to tackle coronavirus vaccine inequality.
But as their website states, ‘no-one is safe until everyone is safe.’