Across the globe, the development of a coronavirus vaccine is in the works. In the U.S., public health experts are contending with the fact that at least at first, there won’t be enough for everyone in need. Officials at Johns Hopkins University released a suggested framework for distribution of the vaccine that prioritizes frontline health care workers.
Meanwhile, officials in Australia announced the country signed a letter of intent with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Now, they too are struggling to decide how to distribute the eventual vaccine. Elsewhere in the European Union, Britain, Switzerland, China, and Russia, vaccine trials are beginning.
And with these discussions taking place in administrations worldwide, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is warning against “vaccine nationalism.”
As Scott Neuman reports for NPR:
WHO has set an Aug. 31 deadline to establish terms for the new pact. Tedros said he sent a letter to the WHO’s 194 member states, urging participation.
“Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain,” he said, noting that hoarding by some countries led to shortages of protective gear in the early days of the pandemic.
We’re talking about the worldwide race for a coronavirus vaccine.
Copyright 2020 WAMU 88.5