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VIRUS-VACCINES-NATIONS
Rich nations have cornered half of future Covid-19 vaccine supply: Oxfam
WASHINGTON, Sept 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – A group of wealthy nations representing
13 percent of the global population have already bought up more than half of the
promised doses of future Covid-19 vaccines, according to a report by Oxfam on
Wednesday.
The non-governmental organization analyzed deals struck by pharmaceuticals
and vaccine producers for the five leading vaccine candidates currently in
late-stage trials, based on data collected by the analytics company Airfinity.
“Access to a life-saving vaccine shouldn’t depend on where you live or how
much money you have,” said Robert Silverman of Oxfam America.
“The development and approval of a safe and effective vaccine is crucial, but
equally important is making sure the vaccines are available and affordable to
everyone. Covid-19 anywhere is Covid-19 everywhere.”
The five vaccines analyzed were from AstraZeneca, Gamaleya/Sputnik, Moderna,
Pfizer and Sinovac.
Oxfam calculated the combined production capacity of these five vaccine
candidates at 5.9 billion doses, enough for three billion people given that all
five future vaccines will or are highly likely to require two doses.
Supply deals have so far been agreed for 5.3 billion doses, of which 2.7
billion (51 percent) have been bought by developed countries, territories and
regions, including the US, UK, European Union, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau,
Japan, Switzerland and Israel.
The remaining 2.6 billion doses have been bought by or promised to developing
countries including India, China, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico, among others.
The non-profit added that one of the leading candidates, developed by
Moderna, has received $2.5 billion in committed taxpayers’ money, but has said
it intends to make a profit and has sold the options for all its supply to rich
nations.
Oxfam and other organizations are therefore calling for a “people’s vaccine”
free of charge, distributed fairly based on need.
“This will only be possible if pharmaceutical corporations allow vaccines to
be produced as widely as possible by freely sharing their knowledge free of
patents, instead of protecting their monopolies and selling to the highest
bidder,” Oxfam said.
It added that the estimated cost of providing a vaccine for everyone on Earth
was less than one percent of the projected cost of Covid-19 to the global
economy.
BSS/AFP/MMA/1010HRS