No State Left Behind: The Necessity of Prioritizing Low-Income Countries in COVID-19 Recovery
No State Left
Behind:
The Necessity of
Prioritizing Low-Income Countries in COVID-19 Recovery
Dayna Wilson –
300113188
8 December,
2021
Introduction to World
Politics POLI 1103 – 050
Douglas College
Dr. Stewart Prest
Word Count: 1140
When the first
COVID-19 vaccines became available in December of 2020, many breathed a sigh of
relief. While there was no doubt that the pandemic and resulting economic
strife were far from over, the development of a vaccine was seen as a concrete
first step towards recovery from the virus that had been afflicting the globe since
March of that year. And indeed, another year on, much is returning to some
version of normal for the wealthier countries fortunate enough to have had
unfettered access to vaccines. Those living in low-income countries have not
been so lucky, however, with only 5.8% of individuals having received a first
dose of a vaccine compared to the global average of 54.2% (Our World in Data
2021). While examples of such inequity in access to care are by no means a new
phenomenon, COVID-19 has served to shine a light on the problematic nature of the
global approach to lower income countries in times of crisis. Though wealthier
states have been quick to pledge assistance to those in need, particularly
through the development of the COVAX project designed to address logistics and
infrastructure in vaccine access, concrete action has fallen far short of that
necessary to adequately address the disproportionate impact of the virus felt
by those in low-income states. Given the interconnectedness of the modern world
resulting from globalization, successful global recovery from COVID-19 is
dependant upon addressing these inequities exposed by the pandemic response.
One
of many by-products of the pandemic has been increasing demonstrations of
nationalism, particularly among wealthy states such as the United States and
facilitated by leaders such as former President Donald Trump. States quickly
rushed to close their borders in attempts to safeguard their own populations, and
supply chain disruptions led to hoarding of personal protective equipment and
therapeutic treatments. In one particularly notable example, when Trump hailed the
merits of malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCG) for treatment of Covid, sales
of the drug soared and supplies dwindled; despite there being an empirical lack
of evidence of any actual efficacy of its use (Singh et al. 2021). Meanwhile, the
shortage of HCG meant reduced treatment options for malaria in Sub-Saharan
Africa, and The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that as many as 769,000
people will die from malaria as a result, at a rate more than double the
standard (Nhamo et al. 2020). This strategy of overconsumption was mirrored in
the US purchasing the entirety of the global stock of Remdesivir, a drug actually
shown to reduce mortality from Covid (Khamsi 2020).
This
hoarding of medical resources reached a head upon the successful development of
vaccines, with wealthy states quickly entering advance purchase arrangements
with vaccine developers. COVAX was ideated with a goal of ensuring equal access
to vaccines for all participating countries, obtaining doses through investment
in companies with promising results. Ideally, wealthy, or “self-financing
countries” purchase reduced price vaccines through COVAX, while allowing for nearly
100 unfunded low-income countries to receive jabs at no cost (Gleeson 2021). Countries
with the resources to do so, however, were able to undermine the COVAX
arrangement and secure doses directly from manufacturers, leaving the COVAX
fund direly undersupplied. By the end of November 2021, COVAX had administered
fewer than 576 million doses, falling far short of an initial goal of 2 billion
by the end of the year (Gleeson 2021). This has resulted in a wide gap in
vaccination rates between the wealthiest and poorest countries. It is
particularly concerning given the fact that many of the wealthier countries
with higher vaccine rates are now introducing third booster shots, a fact which
is difficult to justify considering the deep inequities in vaccine rollout.
Secondary
to the medical nationalism interfering with vaccine supply are the logistical
concerns involved in developing vaccine programs in states that, in many cases,
lack the widespread infrastructure required for the development and transport
of doses. This is compounded by the fact that COVID-19 vaccines must be kept at
low temperatures. It has been reported that “…barriers include too few fridges,
inadequate ice packs and vaccine carriers, and unreliable power supply… [as
well as] a shortage of trained biomedical engineers” (Taghoe et al. 2021). In
order to invest in solutions for overcoming these challenges, low-income
countries need to have the economic ability to do so. Economic relief efforts
and sustainable debt restructuring will likely be integral to allowing for such
investments to be made, so as to see the success of any widespread vaccination
efforts.
One
notable logistic concern of vaccine production and accessibility that bears
consideration is the unwillingness of manufacturers to share patents and allow
for states to develop domestic in-house vaccine production. While increased
ability to produce jabs has the potential to mitigate vaccine scarcity, a lack
of information sharing has resulted in limited production capabilities. It has
been argued that quarrels over vaccine patents in the face of a global pandemic
are inherently unethical, and that succinctly speaking “the human race doesn’t
have time for this nonsense” (Salzberg 2021). The prioritization of
intellectual property and accrual of wealth over the lives of millions of human
beings, while perhaps unsurprising in a world dominated by late-stage
capitalism, is unconscionable. A vaccine waiver, which would allow countries to
circumvent patents in developing COVID-19 vaccines, has gained a modicum of support
from countries including the U.S. It remains, however, that a number of wealthy
countries are blocking such a waiver, leading to a multi-organization complaint
to the UN that by doing so “are prolonging the pandemic and perpetuating
structural racial discrimination[.]”
The
realist approach to managing the pandemic, with a focus on individual state
security, has resulted in tentative recovery for high income countries. With
large percentages of populations fully vaccinated, many might believe that the
end of COVID times draws near. However, full recovery seems unlikely to be
obtained when low-income countries are left behind. Inequitable vaccine access results
in an inability to meet the population immunity threshold (herd immunity),
which has been estimated at approximately 94% (Mayo Clinic 2021). The longer
COVID continues to thrive in lower-income countries, the more opportunity
arises for mutations to develop and spread, as has been seen with the Alpha,
Delta, and now Omicron variants of the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. Each
variant carries with it new challenges and unknown factors relating to virality
and mortality (McNeill 2021), thus extending the campaign against the virus.
The
pandemic is not yet over. And it won’t be over until the wealthy countries of
the world stage make the active choice to invest in recovery for those states
that need the assistance. Displays of nationalist self interest and the
prioritization of relative gains need to end in favour of global cooperation
and a focus on ensuring equitable recovery for all states, regardless of
capital. Only then will we be able to realize a total recovery from the
COVID-19 crisis.
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