COVID: Experts urge rich nations to end vaccine nationalism; Help Africa fight pandemic

On Wednesday, September 15, experts said at a webinar on 'Accelerating COVID Vaccinations in Africa' that well-off countries should abandon vaccine nationalism, as it is leading to supply shortages and hindering attempts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the continent, reported Xinhua News Agency. The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based organisation, convened the webinar. Notably, vaccine nationalism arises when governments get into arrangements with pharmaceutical companies to give vaccines to their own populations before they are available to other countries. Speaking at the event, the African Union's special envoy for the African Medicines Agency, Michel Sidibe, emphasised that wealthier countries must cease hoarding vaccines, which has been unhelpful to the pandemic fight. 

Sidibe pointed out that Africa's fight against the pandemic has been hampered by vaccine nationalism and also emphasised the importance of vaccine equity in preventing the emergence of new coronavirus strains, accelerating recovery, and bolstering the resilience of Africa's public health institutions. Meanwhile, Agnes Binagwaho, vice-chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity and former Rwandese Minister for Health, claimed that delayed vaccination might cost Africa 3 per cent of its GDP and that multilateral efforts to stop vaccine nationalism and increase access to the life-saving commodity should be stepped up. She also went on to slam several wealthy nations for considering third booster doses, claiming that doing so would deny low-income African countries the opportunity to immunise high-risk individuals, reported the news agency. 

'Vaccine nationalism and price hikes constrained supply in Africa'

Stating that new variants of Coronavirus have derailed a return to normalcy and also put pressure on public health facilities, Aloysius Uche Ordu, director of the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development programme, said it is crucial to address vaccine nationalism and price hikes that have constrained supply in Africa.  According to an article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in February 2021, the United States acquired 800 million doses of at least six vaccines that were under development. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom had also procured 340 million shots, or about five doses per citizen, stated the article. The World Health Organization (WHO) had also highlighted worries over vaccine nationalism, claiming that such unilateral agreements with rich countries may render vaccines inaccessible to people in some of the world's poorest areas.

(Image: Unsplash/ Twitter/ @MichelSidibe)