At last, the Covid-19 vaccines are coming. There have been historic attempts to secure shots in the arm for all who need it, regardless of their ability to pay. Why, then, does it again look like rich countries will get vaccines and the poor will have to wait in line?
- Countries with 13% of the global population have pre-ordered half of all vaccines that will be made available
- The historic attempt to have one global purchasing point is seriously underfunded
- Rich countries have blocked a proposal by South Africa and India to produce the vaccine without patents until there is global immunity
- There are few mechanisms in place to stop industry profiting from mostly publicly-funded vaccines
