Giving Compass' Take:
- Khanyi Mlaba reports on how charging different countries different rates for the COVID-19 vaccine may contribute to 'vaccine nationalism', in which wealthier countries exclude poorer ones from vaccine access by monopolizing the purchase of available doses.
- How should wealthy countries strike a balance between vaccinating their people and providing countries with fewer resources a smoother path to recovery? How can you help to address the impacts of COVID-19 outside of your own country?
- Learn about COVAX, a strategy to address inequities in global vaccine distribution.
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South Africa’s health department confirmed on Friday that the country is paying $5.25 per dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - 2.5x more than what European Union members are set to pay.
“The explanation we were given for why other high-income countries have a lower price is that they have invested in the [research and development], hence the discount on the price,” said Anban Pillay, South Africa’s deputy director general of health
The price difference between the EU and South Africa has the potential to deepen the effects of vaccine nationalism, where wealthier countries have been buying up more than enough vaccines to inoculate their populations — several times over in some cases — leaving middle- and lower-income countries struggling to access the vaccine.
The World Health Organisation warned against vaccine nationalism earlier this month, with the WHO chief, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying that “the world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure.”
Read the full article about global disparities in vaccine prices by Khanyi Mlaba at Global Citizen.