Page 8 - Nile Explorer Issue 12

Perspectives

Meera Estrada is a cultural
commentator and co-host on Global
News Radio 640 Toronto.

COVID-19 Vaccine developed by Pfiver
As rich countries hoard vaccines, what happens

to the poor?

e are finally seeing some light the need for a global plan to stop the said John Nkengasong, the head of the
Wat the end of the pandemic spread and start the recovery process. Africa Centres for Disease Control and
tunnel with coronavirus vaccine rollout But now with a vaccine in our grasp, the Prevention,
underway in North America, Europe real litmus test of global solidarity is here When you are intimately linked to
and parts of East Asia. and it appears there is a very high risk of poverty you see beyond the statistics.
But it is far from a collective “we,” with failure when it comes to such relief on a My father grew up very poor in India.
87 per cent of the world’s population not global scale. His father died at a young age of asthma.
likely to receive vaccination within the According to The People’s Vaccine It was treatable even then, but deadly
next 12 months. At best, only one in 10 Alliance, there are two major factors if medication is a luxury unaffordable.
people from 67 of the world’s poorest and contributing to the deficit. The first Such was his fate, leaving behind a young
developing countries will be vaccinated stems from the so-called “hoarding” widow with four children.
by the end of 2021, according to a recent of the vaccine by wealthy nations and When I see the tallies of the COVID-19
analysis by the People’s Vaccine Alliance. then there are the limits on vaccine death counts, I don’t think about the
It may be as late as 2024 until the vast production due to intellectual-property numbers, I think about the single
majority of nations across the globe have controls. individuals and the loved ones they
access to COVID-19 vaccines. Wealthy countries have been on a are leaving behind. They matter to
The World Health Organization’s vaccination shopping spree for months somebody. My grandfather, despite not
COVAX program is the primary global now, hedging their bets with various having a penny to his name, mattered.
scheme to vaccinate people in poor and distributors and securing more doses Just as these many people who will
middle-income countries around the than their populations. not see a vaccine for several years and
world against the coronavirus. COVAX “Rich countries have enough doses to potentially lose their lives in the waiting
has thus far raised $2.1 billion and says vaccinate everyone nearly three times game, matter.
it needs an additional $4.9 billion to over, whilst poor countries don’t even In the grand scheme, the $4.9 billion
meet its target of vaccinating at least 20 have enough to reach health workers and that COVAX needs in order to meet its
per cent of the people in poor countries people at risk,” said Dr. Mohga Kamal- vaccination targets for the upcoming
next year. The program is also receiving Yanni of the PVA. Canada alone has year doesn’t seem too lofty an ambition,
funds from private donors, most notably secured enough dosages to vaccinate our when we factor in contribution potential
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. citizens five to six times over, if all of the from wealthy countries and individuals.
We have heard the rhetoric about pre-ordered vaccinations are approved. There are billionaires like Bill Gates or
COVID-19 being the “great equalizer” “It makes absolutely no moral sense to Carlos Slim who has helped fund a deal
that discriminates no one and plagues have excess doses of vaccines in certain for 150 million doses of the AstraZeneca
us all. Consequently, the World Health countries and absolutely no doses of vaccine in Latin America, drawing on
Organization has repeatedly expressed vaccines in other areas of the world,” manufacturing capacities in Argentina

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