The Scramble for Covid-19 Vaccines

The priority of priorities of all countries is to vaccinate their population to protect people against the risk of Covid-19 infection and reach the required herd immunity protection against coronavirus as early as possible

By Mrinal Roy

More than a year after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, the surges of Covid-19 infection across the world fuelled by new variants remain unabated. A third wave of coronavirus infection is currently sweeping across Europe amid vaccine supply constraints. New lockdowns and curfews have been imposed in France, Poland, Ukraine and various other countries. Germany has extended existing restrictions in a bid to curb a third wave of coronavirus infections.  France, Italy, Germany and Spain have recorded the most coronavirus deaths in the European Union (EU).

Amid tensions over Covid-19 vaccine supplies between the EU and the UK, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened that the EU could envisage bans on vaccine exports arguing that the current supply arrangements with EU vaccine manufacturers are slowing down its own vaccine rollout. The EU prepares to tighten Covid-19 vaccine export rules and demand reciprocity arrangements.

A tug of war has thus broken out between the UK and the rest of Europe over supplies of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine in a context of rising Covid-19 infection in EU countries. The UK is insisting that its supply contracts with the Astra Zeneca vaccine manufacturers in the EU must be honoured to ensure that its vaccination campaign remains on track. The UK is therefore firmly opposed to any proposals to block exports to Britain.

Last week the European Medicines Agency, the EU vaccine regulator, has on the basis of new expert analysis reconfirmed that the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine was ‘safe and effective’, did not increase the risk of blood clots and that its benefits far outweigh its potential risks. As a consequence, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, which had suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, have decided to resume the vaccination of their citizens with this vaccine.

Competing demand

The rising and competing demand for the Astra Zeneca vaccine, which is the world’s most widely used vaccine, from EU countries, the UK, countries across the world and the requirements of the COVAX programme has put tremendous pressure on supplies of the vaccine.

In this context, the Serum Institute of India, which is the largest producer of vaccines in the world and a key player in Covid-19 vaccination efforts in India and globally, has already advised Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco that further supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine to them will be delayed due to surging demand for vaccines in India to meet the objectives of the world’s biggest inoculation drive. India has this week temporarily halted AstraZeneca vaccine exports.

Sluggish pace

European leaders are also being criticized for the sluggish pace of their vaccination programmes. The statistics are telling. Less than 12% of the EU’s population has received the first dose of the vaccine compared with nearly 40% in the UK. France has so far administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to only 9.20% of the population whereas two doses of the vaccine have been received by only 3.60% of the population.

There is therefore a no holds barred scramble for vaccines across the world in a context of insufficient supplies to meet global demand. Countries which had negotiated confirmed orders early have been able to secure vaccines. Those that were slow to get out of the starting gates are now struggling to have access to the vaccines. Access to Covid-19 vaccines is patently unequal.

The current surge of Covid-19 infection in Mauritius through various hotbeds of infection attests to the continued presence of the virus in our midst. This situation can rapidly get out of hand if we do not all strictly abide by prescribed sanitary and social distancing norms and diligently wear masks to break the chain of Covid-19 infection and stop its spread in the country. More importantly, we also need to accelerate the vaccination drive in the country to protect the population at large and in particular the most vulnerable against the risk of infection.

Harbinger of hope

The priority of priorities of all countries is to vaccinate their population to protect people against the risk of Covid-19 infection and reach the required herd immunity protection against coronavirus as early as possible. The sooner this objective is met, the sooner the country will be able to break the crippling shackles of the pandemic. Herd immunity is a passport towards a modicum of normality and a sine qua-non condition to reboot the economy and reignite the process of economic recovery.

The vaccination of the population is therefore a harbinger of hope for economic actors and in particular those operating in the tourism and air travel sectors which have suffered the brunt of the adverse fallouts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Covid-19 crisis cannot be a political punching ball. It must unite the people and the country to achieve these common national objectives as quickly as possible.

In a context of vaccine supply constraints, countries across the world are therefore looking for and using alternative vaccines available to carry out their vaccination drive. Quite a few countries are thus using a mix of Covid-19 vaccines

The UAE has, for example, primarily used the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine to vaccinate most of its population. In some cases of low immune response, a third dose of the vaccine has even been administered. The Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V is used in Russia, Argentina Hungary, Serbia and the UAE. Neither Sinopharm nor Sputnik V have been approved by the WHO.

Delays in approval by regulatory bodies risk converting approved vaccines into a closed shop benefitting from tremendous commercial edge.

Freudian slip?

Against such a grim backdrop, how can the leader of the MMM come up with the thoughtless and inane knee-jerk reaction of ‘tini tini’ the Covaxin vaccination campaign in the teeth of intelligible and easily accessible scientific evidence available? The choice of a vaccine is a serious business. It cannot be determined by Freudian slips.

‘Tini Tini’ is already destined to become one of the most popular meme of our rich political folklore.

If we are to win the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic, we imperatively need to make rational choices based on an expert and thorough assessment of all the scientific and other evidence available and weigh the benefits with the risks involved.

We must also note that the American drugmakers Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have promised investors they will soon hike vaccine prices.

Our priorities must be the safety of the people through vaccination and the rapid implementation of an innovative economic recovery plan bearing in mind the game changing lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic. Any delay in swiftly attaining these cardinal objectives will cost billions of Rupees in support measures and economic loss to the country.

In such a context, how can anyone irresponsibly propose to stall the vaccination drive and by extension tacitly endorse a costly delay in the process of economic recovery and a modicum of normality in the country?

Is it not high time to cut loose from the inanity of narrow political narratives for the good of country and people?


* Published in print edition on 26 March 2021

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