We're Not Out of the Woods - Yet

The UAE has the right infrastructure and talent to bolster a global vaccination drive in support of the Global South.

By Xische Editorial, August 2, 2021

Source: barsrsind/Envato

We’re at a crossroads in the fight against Covid-19. Despite the historic global vaccination effort underway, variants and mutations of the virus are stubbornly popping up in forgotten corners of the globe. This is particularly glaring in Africa, where most countries haven’t secured enough vaccines to begin inoculating their populations. The rise of new variants such as the Delta variant that has spread rapidly from India has led some to question the global response to Covid. While many in the West have been fully vaccinated against Covid, larger areas of the Global South are still struggling to obtain enough vaccines.  The result is new variants and mutations that eventually find their way back to the West and threaten reopening efforts. We see this unfolding right now in the United States. So, what should be done?

 The regulations embedded in the intellectual property rights of vaccine manufacturers need to be addressed and possibly suspended to kickstart a global vaccine drive. These regulations need to be lifted so that countries in the Global South can begin manufacturing their vaccines against Covid. Countries with established manufacturing capacity like the UAE and South Africa can (and should) take the lead in creating vaccine supplies for regions like Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Abu Dhabi has already partnered with China’s Sinopharm to manufacture vaccines. Pfizer just partnered with South Africa to manufacture supplies in Cape Town. This is a step in the right direction.

 As Western countries complete their vaccination efforts, these countries can take the lead on creating a broader class of vaccines and assisting countries instrumental in the vaccine creation process. It’s no coincidence that Brazilian scientists are working on the South African variant of Covid-19 and the Serum Institute of India was the first supplier of vaccines for South Africa. The Serum Institute was given the AstraZeneca vaccine manufacturing license at cost to signify that the West can support vaccine distribution in less developed countries. 

There are several bright spots of cooperation in the global fight against Covid-19 that we can build upon to complete the global vaccination drive. For example, the pandemic heralded a new era of scientific globalism and cooperation. Scientific papers have been produced in 111 countries since the beginning of 2020. With China and the United States in the lead, governments worldwide have produced and shared research at a remarkable clip. The crux is finding ways for poorer countries with less developed research and health infrastructure to combat the virus. Global coordination amongst scientists as well as better distribution of advanced technologies like bioinformatics and genome sequencing, allowed us to understand geographic variance. 

The impact of scientific research produced over the last year is compounded by how it has been shared. Three-quarters of the 3,401 Covid-19 papers published last year were open access. This is especially important for poorer countries.  But it wasn’t all a global happy family. Research suggests that countries with a higher GDP were less likely to make scientific research open access compared with lower GDP counterparts. This follows the well-defined path of vaccine diplomacy, whereby wealthier countries have rushed to secure as many vaccine doses as possible without a thought for less powerful countries. 

In the absence of a resolution on these issues, emerging economies are looking to themselves to foster a solution. There is a long road ahead but the cooperation taking place among countries in the Global South is vital for the creation of new vaccines and their rollout to less developed countries. This is a global fight and it is moving into new territory. Empowering new alliances and vaccine solutions through the sharing of data and technology is our best bet in the next phase of this fight. The virus won’t likely be eradicated; it will be managed and rendered containable.