The Urgency of U.S.-EU Cooperation in Fighting Global Pandemics
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused mortality rates to skyrocket while putting millions of people in difficult financial situations, from loss of income, to significant medical bills, to high funeral costs. While some western European countries were slow to vaccinate their citizens, by June 2021, mortality rates in developed countries had diminished significantly due to vaccinations. Countries with significant delays in vaccine rollouts, including those in southeastern Europe, fared much worse as they experienced second and third waves in mortality spikes. The pandemic is unlikely to end until all individuals across the world, with minimal exceptions, receive the vaccine. Thus far, there have already been multiple mutations of the Sars-Cov-2 virus which will only continue to progress further. The vaccine is a crucial step in achieving herd immunity and stopping the virus in its tracks. Therefore, to adequately address the pandemic and prevent another global wave, the U.S. and EU should assume global leadership in capping the price of vaccines, reinstating COVAX, preventing vaccine hoarding, and address vaccine hesitance.
The COVID-19 pandemic not only caused the loss of millions of lives, but also pushed many countries into deep recessions. Low-income and middle-income countries make up approximately 85% of the global economy, yet these countries lack the financial resources to purchase the COVID-19 vaccines and the technical expertise needed to support the vaccines.
It is important to note that many of the developing countries have struggled to provide adequate health care to their residents for decades prior to the pandemic.
Some leading vaccine manufacturers, like Johnson & Johnson, have pledged to keep their prices low so that less financially stable countries can still have access to the vaccine. Other manufacturers have taken an alternate route by setting a premium and marketing themselves to only the richest citizens in countries like India, Bangladesh, and Brazil. Vaccine prices vary drastically from country to country and, in some cases, are largely disproportionate to the average income in that country. Additionally, countries not only have to purchase the individual doses, but also need to account for the other supplies like refrigerators, PPE, and more. Due to the high demand for COVID-19 vaccines, these prices are significantly higher than average vaccine prices for other similar viruses. Manufacturers should not be allowed to exploit the pandemic for profit. To avoid sending developing countries further into debt, U.S. and EU officials should set a cap on the prices of vaccines proportionate to average income in specific countries.
One way to cap vaccine prices could be through COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX), a WHO program aimed at making COVID-19 vaccines more widely available to disadvantaged countries. COVAX would allocate vaccines to participating countries by population size and once each participating country reached a 20% vaccination rate, more vaccines would be distributed. Through COVAX, high-income countries can purchase vaccines at a rate of $11 per dose while ninety-two low-income and middle-income countries can purchase vaccines at a significantly lower rate of $1.60 to $2.00 per dose. In theory, COVAX would assist developing countries in their access to vaccines; however, for COVAX to succeed, it needs significantly more funding. Many developed countries deviated from this plan and began purchasing vaccines through the manufacturers rather than through COVAX. This has had a direct impact on some African nations which make up 16.7% of the world’s population yet are unable to access the vaccines. The U.S. and EU should participate in COVAX to continue vaccinating and providing booster vaccines to their own populations while assisting in vaccinating developing countries.
What makes matters worse is that there is a high rate of vaccine hesitancy across the world due to proliferation of misinformation that has affected proper response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy is commonplace in both developed and developing nations. For example, in a study of individuals from Ethiopia, 46.7% of the participants had a low level of knowledge and 51.8% of participants had a negative attitude towards COVID-19 and its preventative measures. Additionally, 1 in 5 participants were completely unwilling to receive the vaccine. Vaccine hesitancy will only continue to propel the virus as it mutates to a point where the vaccine will no longer be effective. A recent WHO global poll showed that 73% of countries have witnessed a decline in demand and interest for immunizations. Both U.S. and EU officials should invest resources to help developing nations to increase digital information literacy and promote science-based vaccine information among the masses. No amount of travel restrictions and mask mandates will succeed unless the spread of vaccine misinformation is contained worldwide.
It has been shown that COVID-19 continues to spread predominantly among unvaccinated people. Therefore, the U.S. and the EU should require vaccine manufacturers to follow a cap, work with the WHO to reinstate COVAX, and tackle the issue of vaccine hesitancy. Failure to get ahead of the disproportionality between countries will only continue to heighten rates of mortality. Challenges to making vaccines more available to vulnerable populations are not insurmountable and can be overcome with proper commitment and cooperation among countries of the collective West.
