WeeklySA_AdminWEST’S VACCINE HOARDING NEGATES NOTION OF HUMAN SOLIDARITY
The call by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to the world leaders attending the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to prioritise equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and other life-saving tools, is more than valid – especially under the current dire circumstances of the pandemic.
More than anything, it speaks to the moral imperative of human solidarity – a call that should have been needless, if the developed countries had acted with unforced moral gumption in the first place when it came to the issue of vaccine distribution. Yet, the unheeded message to the leaders of the developed nations, is that the pandemic’s vicious cycle will remain too great to be overcome – as long as the majority of the world’s population remain outside of the vaccine supply chain. At a media briefing, WHO director-general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus frantically sounded the clarion call, as he has to no avail in recent months, all to deaf ears. Yet, again, this week Ghebreyesus was back at pleading with the world’s leaders to heed his call – not to allow the critical life-and-death matter of vaccine iniquity to persist without swift intervention. As he made the call, he reminded the world that the situation looked utterly grim, and, the future threat even more so, and too ghastly to contemplate. That, the COVID-19 pandemic had already claimed the lives of nearly five million people around the globe, and the virus continued to circulate actively in all regions of the world.
“The longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and changing, the longer the social and economic disruption will continue, and the higher the chances that more variants will emerge that render vaccines less effective,’’ Ghebreyesus warns.
HUMANE CALL
A warning of this magnitude ought to – at least – jerk the world’s leaders into some instant response. But, none tangible so far, except a deafening silence along the Washington-Belgium axis of Western power. Perhaps, a signal of things to come – come UNGA’S 76th session next Wednesday. When, at most, we can expect a woolly response to be fashioned for the international gallery, to crown the usual bombast of the highfalutin toenadering which characterise similar august occasions. Yet, the challenges abound – WHO’s targets to vaccinate at least 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year, and 70% by the middle of next year, seem insurmountable currently when viewed against the current inertia.
But, as WHO points out, these targets are achievable if countries and manufacturers make a genuine commitment to vaccine equity. For now, the picture looks unedifying. More than 5.7 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but 73% of all doses have been hoarded by just 10 countries. Needless to say, the unfairness of this situation defies words.
For his part, Ghebreyesus has called for some common sense – that those to whom the message is directed muster their deep sense of humanity and respond accordingly. He has called on “all countries to break the cycle of ‘panic and neglect’ seen after previous health emergencies, and commit adequate financial resources, as well as political will, to strengthening health emergency preparedness across the globe”. Future pandemics looming, our collective fate rests at equitable interventions. So, the call is out there for the most humane of world’s leaders to rise to be counted, to support the quest for Africa WHO’s push for equitable vaccine distribution. The message is clear: share a jab and reaffirm your humanity. That’s the humble call to the world’s rich nations.
