Not Enough Vaccines

 written by 10526 Joo Minseo

Even before the COVID-19 vaccine was developed, there are concerns. Developed nations such as the United States (U.S.), the European Union (E.U.) and Japan are buying all of the COVID-19 vaccines in advance. It is expected that pharmaceutical companies will barely produce 1 billion units in the next two years. However, 1.3 billion units have been sold in advance to developed nations.

On August 2^nd Bloomberg reported that wealthy countries such as the U.S., Japan, and the E.U. have signed contracts of purchasing 1.3 billion purchases of COVID-19 vaccines with pharmaceutical companies. Other countries will be stomping their feet because they cannot get the vaccine due to these developed nations’ presells.

Preordering the COVID-19 vaccines seems to be most active in the U.S. The U.S. spent $8 billion on securing vaccines due to its ranking as number one with the most COVID-19 cases. U.S. President Donald Trump and his government paid $2.1 billion to Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company, to receive 100 million doses if it succeeds in developing vaccines. Then it will receive 500 million doses for the long-term options.

                                 

The U.S. also purchased 300 million doses of the vaccines jointly developed by Astra Zeneca and Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The E.U. has signed a contract for a supply of 300 million vaccines with Sanofi. Japan has decided to preorder on March 31^st, 120 million vaccines from Pfizer.

The problem is that even if the vaccines are developed, they are not enough to supply 7.8 billion people currently living in the world. Bloomberg reported, “By the first quarter of 2022, the world’s production volume is 1 billion units at most,” and “it is less than the 1.3 billion units that rich countries preordered.”

                              

Regarding these advanced vaccine sales, Kwon Joonwook, deputy director of the Korean Central Anti-Disaster Headquarters, believes that the World Health Organization’s active intervention is required.

Everybody in the world deserves a cure for COVID-19. All nations should cooperate in producing vaccines for everyone. All nations deserve to receive the vaccines during this crisis.

Kwon said, “It is time for humanity to use the cure for a public good in the face of the human health crisis in 100 years.”