That was true (and still is true) of COVID testing in the US and other countries. It was true of the lack of protective gear for frontline healthcare workers around the world, as nations scrambled to secure as many materials as possible. Now, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), has a stark warning to the world: don’t let the same thing happen with a COVID vaccine.
This is not charity. We have learned the hard way that the fastest way to end this pandemic and reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest-risk populations everywhere, rather than the entire population of just a few. countries “.
But whether nations will live up to that ideal or not is an open question. The United States and several other countries have already been scrambling to secure doses of various coronavirus vaccine candidates, long before they get approval.
In July, the Trump administration pledged $ 2.1 billion to secure up to 600 million doses of the experimental coronavirus vaccine from Sanofi and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. In August, the United States reached another deal for 100 million doses of the Modern biotech COVID vaccine candidate; 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Oxford vaccine had been promised to the US.
Distributing them to the masses will require some serious ethical considerations on the part of drug companies and national governments.
Tedros expressed similar sentiments during his press conference. And a significant portion of the consideration will be for nations most in need, front-line health workers and populations most at risk for COVID – decisions that will be informed, in part, by a WHO panel.
A successful vaccine has been created, the WHO strategic advisory group will provide recommendations for its appropriate and fair use, he says. While there is a desire among leaders to protect their own people the response to this pandemic must be awesome.
