COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Alludes to the Effects of 18th/19th Century Colonization
Vaccination efforts reveal the stark economic, political, and social divides between the ancestors of former colonizers and those who they colonized.
It is no secret that ever since the rise of European colonization during the late 1700s to early 1800s, a stark divide has been created between countries that are considered “developed” and countries that are deemed “developing” or “third world.” This divide has come as a result of the complete and total exploitation of certain peoples by European powers for economic gain and the eventual abandonment of these people when such export-based ventures were no longer profitable. Today, this disenfranchisement has led to a massive disparity in who receives care and who does not. In the midst of the pandemic, this inequality was seen more than ever in vaccine distribution.
Starting on March 30th, 2020 the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) kickstarted a program titled “Operation Warp Speed,” (OWS) in an effort to accelerate the production of a COVID-19 vaccine. By January 2021, companies like Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca had begun the process of vaccine rollout in America through pharmacies and hospitals. This rollout process was an atomic failure. With President Trump at the time holding back doses to guarantee that those who had already received their first Pfizer or Moderna dose also received their second, hundreds of vaccines went unused or wasted. At the same time, Black Americans were being hugely discriminated against with vaccination rates 2 to 3 times below that of White Americans.
Shortly after this highly ineffective initial rollout, President Joe Biden was inaugurated. Biden set a goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in his first 100 days in office. He was successful and through a huge push to simply get the vaccines into pharmacies, hospitals, and other distribution sites wherever possible, Biden truly ramped up the vaccination process in a remarkable fashion. Yet, while Americans and those in other widely rich countries were being vaccinated at a rather rapid rate- with there actually being an excess at some hospitals- those in “developing nations” had yet to even see a Moderna syringe. But why?
Despite the deep rooted socioeconomic divide between certain nations in Africa and Asia and those in Europe and the Americas, a huge reason for why vaccine rollout was and still is months behind in developing countries comes down to the fact that there are stringent “intellectual property protections” or patents on COVID-19 vaccines. This means that the only people who can actually produce the vaccines are the people that made the vaccines in the first place: Moderna, Pfiser, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, etc. This has massively stifled the widespread distribution of vaccines to poorer nations as companies have been adopting the “me-first approach” to distribution. This means that if Moderna, for example, had 1 million vaccines to send out to different countries, if the United States was able to pay up first, they would receive the vaccines (even if they needed them less than a poorer nation). This has turned the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process into a system that undoubtedly leaves poorer countries behind, purely because they don’t have the resources and capabilities of richer nations.
But despite these massive discrepancies in who actually gets vaccinated based purely on their country’s economic status and thus their geographic location, there are some initiatives to encourage more equitable vaccine allocation. The most notable of all is COVAX. Spearheaded by the World Health Organization and GAVI, COVAX is a scheme comprising hundreds of countries all over the world- rich and poor. Countries pool their resources and the general idea is that rich countries will receive a wide variety of different vaccines to prevent the backing of any one candidate. Along with this, poorer countries will get the financial support that they need from richer countries and will then receive vaccinations with equity as soon as they are available. COVAX is opening vaccine distribution facilities to distribute vaccines all over the world.
Unfortunately, despite its noble intentions COVAX found itself massively underfunded right out the gate and struggled immensely to overcome the “vaccine hoarding” that was occurring by richer countries. Due to this lack of funding and access, COVAX was purchasing vaccines at rates millions below richer countries. In addition, COVAX has come under scrutiny for simply being another charity that is trying to fix problems in poorer countries that are much deeper rooted than anything some financial aid could solve. Opponents argue that COVAX fails to actually teach poorer nations how to purchase and distribute the vaccines themselves. Thus contributing to a never-ending cycle of economic, political, and social degradation in these nations.
The issue of vaccine nationalism and vaccine hoarding tells us a lot more than just the mere fact that money is powerful. It also alludes to the idea that the horrors of colonization and the multi-decade game of “catch-up” that so many developing countries have had to play, is still very much prevalent today. Richer countries like the United States are admittedly doing what they can for their people, which is completely understandable. But soon, world leaders will need to step up and acknowledge that they need to help those who are being ignored merely because of where they were born and where they come from. As history has shown us, neglecting poorer countries will only lead to more unrest and harm to richer countries who have the ability to help. In the long-run revolutions, uprisings, mass immigrations, and coups could damage developed nations too. Developed nations have not only a moral duty to help but must provide assistance for the sake of their own futures.
Sources:
https://www.biospace.com/article/a-timeline-of-covid-19-vaccine-development/
https://www.ajmc.com/view/a-timeline-of-covid-19-vaccine-developments-in-2021
https://www.devex.com/news/is-covax-part-of-the-problem-or-the-solution-99334
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/what-is-covax/
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2021-02/unicef-who-unfair-supply-covid-vaccines.html
