Media Comments on Britain and the United States Competing to Sign Contracts to Protect Priority Supply of New Coronavirus Vaccine

At present, the global new coronavirus epidemic is still severe. Hundreds of vaccines have entered different stages of testing and are expected to be available in the near future. During this period, some developed countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States signed agreements with pharmaceutical companies to ensure the priority supply of vaccines in their countries. Critics claim that this 'national first' approach is fostering a climate of 'vaccine nationalism', causing rich countries to scramble to stock up on the new crown vaccine, while poor countries are hard to find.

The Ecologist : Britain's Vaccine Agreement Promotes 'Vaccine Nationalism'

On August 14, the British government and two American companies signed a new coronavirus vaccine supply agreement for a total of 90 million doses of new coronavirus vaccine. The two companies are Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. biotechnology company.

The British 'Ecologist' journal published an editorial titled 'British Vaccine Agreement: 'Vaccine Nationalism' on the 18th. The article believes that the vaccine agreement between the UK and the U.S. pharmaceutical companies threatens the fairness of the global distribution of vaccines.

Screenshot of 'The Ecologist' Report

This is not the first time that the British government has purchased new coronavirus vaccines from relevant companies. According to Reuters, the number of new coronavirus vaccines purchased by the UK will reach 362 million doses.

According to the article, public health activists have warned that the latest agreement reached by the British government to ensure that the country has priority access to the new coronavirus vaccine supply will exacerbate the situation in which wealthy countries around the world scramble to stock up on vaccines and undermine global efforts to ensure equitable vaccine distribution. By giving priority to lock-in deals, the British government is fostering a dangerous atmosphere of vaccine nationalism in developed countries.

The article pointed out that the United Kingdom is working with the United States and the European Union to 'secretly compete' to obtain more vaccine candidates. The agreement they signed will greatly reduce the amount of vaccine stocks available to vulnerable groups in poor countries, threatening global efforts to fight the epidemic.

British public health activists believe that the British government's vaccine agreement has accelerated the new coronavirus vaccine competition. This new coronavirus vaccine nationalism, coupled with the unreasonable monopoly of large pharmaceutical companies, puts thousands of lives at risk.

'Even though the British government claims that it wants vaccines to be distributed fairly, it has not implemented vaccine nationalism,; said activist Fitzpatrick. "Unfortunately, we have not seen the government take any concrete action for this."

'The government must immediately change its strategy and support the WHO's new coronavirus pneumonia technology to obtain a resource bank.' Activist MacDonald said, 'This way countries can strengthen cooperation, accelerate the vaccine research process, and prevent the supply of medicines caused by patent monopolies. The problem of shortages and high-priced vaccines has emerged."

'Science' : Britain and the United States have Signed Agreements with Pharmaceutical Companies

'Science" magazine stated that in the face of huge global demand, the first batch of new coronavirus vaccines will soon face supply shortages after they are launched. Regarding who should give priority to vaccination, experts believe that first-line medical staff should be given priority, followed by those with a higher risk of illness, then those in severely affected areas, and finally others.

But analysts predict that developed and affluent countries will get the vaccine first. The United States and European countries have ordered hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines, and few vaccines are left for poorer regions and countries in the world.

Berkeley, CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), said that many developed and wealthy countries will reach their own agreements with pharmaceutical companies. In July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stated that it had ordered 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from two global pharmaceutical giants, valued at $1.95 billion. Next, there may be an additional order of 500 million doses of vaccines for Americans to inject. National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) said that this is the largest vaccine procurement agreement reached between governments and companies worldwide.

According to a report in 'Science' magazine, the U.S. government has signed agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies worth more than 6 billion US dollars. The 'European Vaccine Alliance' composed of France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands has also signed an agreement to purchase 400 million The new coronavirus vaccine produced by AstraZeneca is used by EU member states.

The Director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Kengsson, expressed that he was very worried about the lack of vaccine left for Africa.

In order to prevent this from happening, WHO has established a Global Covid-19 Vaccine Sharing Plan (COVAX) to guide countries on how to share vaccines. It is unclear how many developed countries will join.

WHO Director-General : Resist 'Vaccine Nationalism'

Screenshot of Reuters report

Reuters reported on the 18th that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the regular press conference of the new coronavirus pneumonia that day that some countries put their own interests above global interests and have a tendency to 'nationalism' on the issue of the new coronavirus vaccine. It will exacerbate the global epidemic crisis.

Tan Desai called for resisting 'vaccine nationalism' and advocated treating the new coronavirus vaccine as a 'public product'. He emphasized, 'The world must jointly respond to the new coronavirus pneumonia pandemic. Until everyone is safe, no one is safe."

Tan Desai said that he has written to all WHO members inviting them to join the Global Covid-19 Vaccine Sharing Program (COVAX). At the same time, organizations and countries such as the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland are reaching vaccine agreements with pharmaceutical companies, and the new crown vaccines developed by these companies are in different stages of testing.