PARIS — In October 2020, as scientists around the
world raced to develop a vaccine to fight COVID-19, the leader of the World
Health Organization warned against looming "vaccine nationalism".
اضافة اعلان
In a video address, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the
time that the only way to beat the pandemic was by making sure poorer countries
had fair access to a vaccine.
"When we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it
effectively," he said.
"And the best way to do that is to vaccinate some
people in all countries rather than all people in some countries. Vaccine
nationalism will prolong the pandemic, not shorten it."
Over a year later, vaccine inequality is undeniable.
Rich nations like France and Japan have given at least one
dose to over 75 percent of their populations.
In South Africa — where the Omicron variant was first
sequenced — only a quarter of the population has been vaccinated. And is one of
the highest inoculation rates on the continent.
But is vaccine inequality the reason behind Omicron's
emergence?
French experts tasked with informing their government's
pandemic response say Omicron likely came from a patient with a depressed
immune system and is the result of a long line of mutations that accumulated
during a chronic infection.
But wherever it came from, its spread would have been
"slower, the higher the immunity of the surrounding population,"
Arnaud Fontanet, scientific advisory board member and epidemiologist at the
Pasteur Institute, told AFP.
"You can imagine that the growth of the virus during
uncontrolled epidemics creates more opportunities for variants to emerge,"
he said.
'Shock the world'
"I would like for this new worry to shock the world
into realizing the importance of vaccinating people on a global scale,"
Fontanet said.
"The planet will only be safe when we achieve a level
of global immunity that significantly limits the spread and opportunities for
new variants to emerge," he said.
The WHO sounded the alarm on vaccine inequality again in
September when countries with plenty of resources began eyeing booster shots
for vaccinated adults and others considered vaccines for children.
Speaking from WHO's headquarters in Geneva, Tedros called on
countries to avoid giving out extra COVID jabs until the end of the year,
pointing to the millions worldwide who have yet to receive a single dose.
"I will not stay silent when the companies and
countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world's poor
should be satisfied with leftovers," he said.
A global vaccine-sharing system called Covax, led by WHO and
the Gavi vaccine alliance among others, is meant to provide 92 low- and
middle-income countries with jabs financed by rich states.
Covax says it has succeeded in administering 500 million
doses in 144 countries and territories, and on Monday, Chinese president Xi
Jinping promised a billion vaccine doses to Africa through donations or
subsidies for local production.
But in a joint statement on Monday, the African Vaccine
Acquisition Trust, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
Covax said the quality of donations needs to improve.
"The majority of the donations to-date have been ad
hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives," they said.
"This has made it extremely challenging for countries
to plan vaccination campaigns and increase absorptive capacity."
Fontanet agrees.
"Vaccinating the world is not only a question of
doses," he says.
"We have to support fragile health systems and work to persuade
people to get the jabs."
'Follow the science'
Now that Omicron has been identified, countries are taking
measures to prevent its spread by banning flights from Southern Africa where it
seems to have originated.
Japan and Israel are closing their borders.
But epidemiologists say these sweeping gestures are beside
the point.
"If you're worried about your risk from omicron, get
vaccinated if you aren't already," US virologist Angela Rasmussen tweeted
on Sunday.
"Continue to layer other precautions. And more than
anything, follow the science and advocate for collaborative global health.”
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