Making COVID vaccines available to all
How we meet the demands for mass inoculations of all nations will say a lot about us
We are but six weeks away from the end of 2020. For many, 2021 can’t come soon enough after months of dealing with the effects of coronavirus. When historians come to write the histories of the year, there will be but one focus while all of the other events are placed in the context of Covid-19.
There are millions now still living under lockdown regulations, where freedom of movement has been curtailed, where social distancing is a norm, where the wearing of face masks are mandatory. And there are businesses, companies, entrepreneurs and employees whose present and futures have been irrevocably changed by the economic hibernation and turmoil wrought by the coronavirus. It has changed our world.
The coronavirus does not make these distinctions as it spreads from person to person. Now that we are close to having a vaccine world leaders must ensure that nations set their priorities for equitable allocation of vaccine so that no one is left behind.
We cannot take for granted the carefree and boundless mingling and mixing, living and laughing in close company that we all enjoyed. Now, there the virus is still on the rise in the United States, record numbers of infections are being recorded in India and in too many places around the world, and there are too many that have suffered the loss of loved ones these past months. But there is hope.
Over these past months too, researchers and scientists have toiled ceaselessly to try and find vaccines that will turn back this tide of pandemic and offer hope once more. And they are succeeding. Already, the BioNtech and Pfizer vaccine along with the Moderna vaccine have both shown to be of great promise, and both are in the final stages of meeting expedited regulatory approval for immediate roll-out.
Transversing this crisis
Another vaccine from Oxford-AstraZeneca will likely be approved by the end of next month. Together, these vaccines along with other treatments that have proved to be somewhat effective in treating those affected with Covid-19 offer the very real and needed hope that we can transverse this crisis — and soon. But there are challenges.
As the leaders of the G20 have indicated, the vaccine needs to be made readily available to as many as quickly as possible. There can be no rush to exclude nations. Economic wealth or the inability to pay should not impede the mass inoculations of as many as need it.
The coronavirus does not make these distinctions as it spreads from person to person. Now that we are close to having a vaccine world leaders must ensure that nations set their priorities for equitable allocation of vaccine so that no one is left behind.