Vaccine administered in UK.

The start of the vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 in some developed countries, including the United States, places the situation of poor nations on the table, since they will be excluded from the benefit of these immunizers.

A recent study showed that wealthy countries, where only about 14 percent of the total population lives, have already reserved more than half of the total volume of vaccines that could be produced during 2021.

The research was conducted by the John Hopkins University School of Public Health and published in the medical journal BJM.  It indicates that, even if all the companies that carry out vaccine projects achieve reliable results and had the capacity to produce those preparations to it’s full potential, at least a fifth of human beings on the planet will have access to them until 2022.

The reason is the unfair hoarding that some powerful nations are doing, not only of what is being manufactured now, but of the volumes that would be available throughout next year.

As an example, we can mention the U.S. government, which has even threatened to enforce outdated laws to confiscate vaccines from the Pfizer corporation and prevent their sale elsewhere.

The authors of the research called for transparency and accountability in handling the issue to achieve equitable global distribution.  This is, they said, something that goes beyond a mere public health matter and involves global security.

Trade and travel between countries can be affected continuously until the access to the effective prevention and treatment measures, such as vaccines, are widely available to the world, the document said.

Many nations have joined the procurement system called COVAX, which is run by the World Health Organization and other entities involved in the fight against epidemics.

However, by the end of next year, this mechanism will only be able to make available two billion doses, enough to vaccinate one billion people, because each preparation usually requires two injections to immunize.

There is a principle that comes out of the experience of humanity after suffering terrible pandemics, in the face of a problem like this, no one is safe, until everyone is safe.