By Yao Yuxin
The devastating novel coronavirus pandemic and the shortage of vaccines have prompted rich countries to grab the lion’s share of the vaccines given their strong purchasing power. Some of them have even placed orders for tens of millions of more vaccines than they need to inoculate their entire population.
By contrast, many low-and middle-income countries have received few or no vaccines, which, as World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, may put the world on the brink of a “catastrophic moral failure”.
Driven by profits, private enterprises in some developed countries have little interest in making vaccines global public goods. Besides, vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, both US companies, need to be stored at ultra-low temperatures which many low-and middle-income countries cannot, thus creating another vaccine barrier.
On the other hand, in line with the spirit of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China, despite the majority of its population awaiting vaccination, has been supplying vaccines to other developing countries.
China joined the WHO-led COVAX in October, and since then it has taken measures to ensure equitable vaccine distribution, including supplying 10 million vaccine doses to other developing countries.
But some Western politicians have deliberately misinterpreted China’s goodwill gesture as “vaccine diplomacy” to win the support of other developing countries. This is a classic example of the West playing the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” card against Beijing.
China, however, should keep doing what it believes is right regardless of the West’s criticisms, not least because many developing countries have appreciated its timely help with vaccines.
The distribution of vaccines should depend on need, not on money power. And to ensure developing countries get fairer access to the vaccines, the United Nations should play the most important role in vaccine distribution.
The lack of standardization (under the International Organization for Standardization) for the vaccines made by different countries is hindering the global cooperation for the free flow of the vaccines. For example, a German diplomat in Beijing recently told me that he can neither take a Chinese vaccine nor a German vaccine, because the former isn’t covered by his German health insurance company against any eventuality, and the latter is unavailable in China.
Since the novel coronavirus has already infected more than 114 million people worldwide and claimed 2.53 million lives, perhaps the WHO should grant universal licensing for effective vaccines, allowing them to enter new markets without repeatedly going through the complicated procedures of drug certification of different countries.
Given that a number of common challenges require better global collaboration to address such as climate change, the fair distribution of vaccines is a test to determine whether the world can work together to overcome global threats. The “ideology first” approach will not help the world defeat the virus. And vaccine monopoly will put everyone at risk including the rich countries, while making concerted global efforts to contain the pandemic will save lives and boost the global economy.
China is shouldering its global responsibilities
The vaccines of Chinese drug makers Sinopharm and Sinovac meet the medical standards of China and the WHO, and have proven safe and effective at home and abroad. By enacting a vaccine management law, China has strictly supervised the whole process of vaccine production, guaranteeing the efficacy and safety of Chinese-made vaccines.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily News Exchange Item
