As more Americans roll up their sleeves for a potentially life-saving vaccination, we are called by moral imperative and social justice concern to reflect on the reality that countries without the Western world’s economic capital are being left behind.
A New York Times story tells the grim tale: Residents of wealthy and middle-income countries have received about 90% of the nearly 400 million COVID-19 vaccines that have been delivered. Poor countries could wait for years to see their citizens vaccinated.
There is a choice to be made, and the U.S. has outsize power in the deliberation. A patent is pending on a 5-year-old invention that is at the center of several COVID-19 vaccines, and the government will control the patent. It could be used to pressure drug companies into producing the vaccines and expanding access to countries in need.
America must respond to this crisis.
Patent-sharing is a start. Companies should be compelled to publish their vaccine formulas then follow up with guidance as to production.
The World Health Organization is pleading for help. It created a technology pool in 2020 to help companies share their expertise across borders. The system is in place. Not one vaccine company has chosen to participate.
President Joe Biden promised to help an Indian company produce about 1 billion doses by the end of 2022, and his administration donated doses to Mexico and Canada. The promise is paired with another: that Americans will be cared for first.
And if we are not to be moved by compassion and conscience, then perhaps we should reflect on competition and America’s standing as a world leader: Russia and China have stepped up to say they will fill the vaccine void.
Americans should reach out to their federal leaders and ask that vaccines be treated as “global public goods.”
Medical innovation is a human accomplishment that must be shared, for the good of humanity.
All of humanity.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette