The Politics of Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution and Recognition

Public Health Rev. 2021 Oct 29:42:1604343. doi: 10.3389/phrs.2021.1604343. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

With COVAX touted as the only platform that is built on equity and fairness, there is growing discontent and concern that the platform is falling short of its goals as COVID ravages across multiple countries. There are two serious issues that we address here. Firstly, COVID distribution principles and mechanisms need to be rethought in terms of a shift from private to global interests with a focus on prioritizing deliveries. Secondly, with multiple vaccines present, it is vital that countries recognize all of them, once proven safe and effective, to prevent any form of vaccine apartheid and discrimination.

Keywords: COVAX; LMICs; inequalities; inequity; politics.