CORONA VACCINES – POLITICS, PROBLEMS, AND POSSIBILITIES

While the corona virus-induced pandemic continues to paralyze the world, a path of hope is gradually opening with the discovery and approval of several new vaccines. However, there seems to be a whole range of issues and controversies making it perhaps more complex than it should be.

Since the discovery of the effective vaccine in Germany by two Turkish-immigrant doctors and co-founders of BioNTech -Dr. Ugur Sahin and Dr. Ozlem Tureci – the world has started its battle to take control of the coronavirus. Concurrently similar vaccinations have been developed in the USA and UK. The Russians and Chinese have their own vaccines and are following their own path of tests, approval, and public vaccination programs.

Concurrently, there are new questions about the side effects, effectiveness against new mutations of the virus, priorities on who should get it, and in what order –both within a country and among the countries in the world.

While research and approval of new medicine have taken place in record time, the absence of real leadership from the World Health Organization has created various inequities. Largely the research for the new medicine has been funded by public money (government subsidies) but the approved medicines are not public good. This has created parallel private and public markets, particularly for the three approved vaccinations – Pfizer-BioNTech (Germany), Moderna (USA), and AstraZeneca (UK).

It is clear that the richer nations are and will be getting a much larger supply than the poorer nations. There are also curious accounts of Canada, Australia, and Japan getting enough vaccination dosages than five times their population. Oil-rich Gulf nations like Abu Dhabi and Dubai rolled out vaccination programs before most countries in the world. Dubai is now one of the “vaccination centers” for the rich and wealthy from all over the world.

According to some of the reports in the media, the Chinese and Russian vaccinations were effectively blocked from conducting larger trials in many third world countries by US and EU countries. That is also beginning to change as some third world countries – unable to secure or afford the three US and EU vaccines – have begun vaccination campaigns with Chinese and Russian vaccines.

COVID-19 is a global pandemic, and it needs a global solution. It cannot be solved by any one country alone and countries operating on parallel tracks mean duplication and wastage of precious resources. Since the vaccination is funded by public money it should be declared a public good and should be administered through public health programs in every country.

As the United States rejoins the World Health Organization, it needs to take the leadership role in initiating a worldwide vaccination program in close cooperation with China and Russia. This is an opportunity for President Joe Biden and the United States to reclaim the moral leadership position in the world. If this can be successfully done, we are likely to get similar cooperation in environmental issues.

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Author:                                                                          Contact:

Faisal Rahman Ph.D.                                                   email: rahman@sxu.edu

Founding Dean & Professor                                      email: frahman@apacgroupe.com                          

The Graham School of Management                      

Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL 60655

Dr. Rahman is also Co-Founder and CEO of the APAC group of healthcare companies operating In Indiana and Illinois. APAC is focused on outpatient surgery and physician practice management.