The inoculation campaign in other parts of the world is largely delayed by hoarding and because supply continues to fall short of demand. Photo: David Zalubowski, AP.
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Washington, DC— The United States is the country with the highest average daily vaccination against COVID-19 in the world and the one with the highest number of doses administered, good news since it is number two in deaths and infections. He’s injecting 2.4 million doses a day, more than double the original goal. About 109 million have been administered.
At that rate, it will achieve the longed-for herd immunity in five months. Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that it will be a reality when 70 to 80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
The inoculation campaign in other parts of the world, however, is largely delayed by hoarding and because supply continues to fall short of demand. Seventy-five percent of total dose production has been pre-purchased by high- and middle-income countries, representing 16 percent of the world’s population.
Canada, the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany are the largest hoarders in a group of 11 countries that includes Mexico, with 74 million extra doses. As a preventive measure in the midst of the pandemic, when it was not known which of the vaccines would work or when they would be approved, governments bought much more than they needed. The United States, a country that produces vaccines unlike its neighbors, will have a surplus of 1.2 billion doses in July.
The sum of the surpluses of the 11 countries with the highest number of pre-purchases would be enough to cover 2.9 billion people in poor countries that lack access to the vaccine. Graphic: Science journal.
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Magazine Science estimated that, in one or two years, the sum of the surplus of those 11 countries would be enough to cover 2.9 billion people in poor countries that lack access to the vaccine. But for now, no country has warehouses full of vaccines it doesn’t need. In fact, many Europeans will not be able to dispose of their surpluses until the end of the year, because they still cannot cope with the pandemic (“Countries now scrambling for Covid19 vaccines may soon have surpluses to donate” 03/09/2021).
Last week, Biden said for the umpteenth time that he will not share anything before finishing vaccinating the entire eligible American population (260 million). After announcing the purchase of 100 million doses of the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine, he noted that “if we have a surplus,” it will be shared with the rest of the world. “We have already decided that we are going to work with the COVAX initiative, we have committed to 4 billion dollars to help obtain the financing.”
A day after taking office, Biden announced the US participation in COVAX, an international initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), created to address disparities in vaccine distribution and access. Trump declined to participate, despite the fact that Congress approved $ 4 billion in emergency funds for COVAX since last year.
On at least two occasions, President López Obrador has asked Biden to share doses. At the virtual meeting at the beginning of the month, AMLO proposed to lend Mexico doses that it would pay when it received the pre-purchased lots. The answer was the same: first our citizens.
US officials have said that while the priority is to “put injections in the arms” of Americans, Biden recognizes the need to help Mexico, as the spread of the virus does not stop at the border line.
However, they consider that for now it is premature. If Biden started shipping vaccines to Mexico before vaccinating everyone in their country, they say, many would likely protest.
It is logical that countries want to prioritize the vaccination of their citizens. The problem is that Biden has not said when and how much he will share. Or if you are going to share. What he does next with the huge dowry he is accumulating will test his bombastic announcement that American world leadership is back.
Canada, like Mexico, is also lagging behind in the vaccination campaign. The country has administered 7 doses per 100 inhabitants, with a daily average of 77 thousand. At that rate, it will be until September that it can have its entire adult population vaccinated. The US is managing four times more per capita than Canada on a daily basis.
Like Mexico, the problem for Canada, which bought 188 million extra doses, is the delay in deliveries. Most doses will not arrive until the second quarter of the year. Production problems at Pfizer and Moderna’s European plants have made it difficult to export them. Canada has also had to accept doses of COVAX.
On March 11, the World Health Organization diagnosed the COVID-19 pandemic. The world stood still: businesses and schools closed, streets and airports emptied and people locked themselves in. Unemployment increased. People fell into depression and divorces multiplied. The health crisis revealed the vulnerability of humanity to unforeseen and difficult-to-control phenomena.
In the midst of the desolation, science again came to the rescue. With unusual rapidity, but without burning stages, researchers and scientists gave the world several vaccines against COVID-19. In the United States, three have been approved: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Governments launched the most ambitious vaccination campaign of all time. In this first stage, 374 million doses have been administered in 123 countries at a still insufficient rate of 9 million daily.
Fifty-two weeks, 2.6 million deaths and 120 million infections later, the light begins to appear at the end of the tunnel. Getting out of it will demand that the hoarding countries show generosity and empathy with the less fortunate.
“This (the pandemic) is not something we can stop with walls, no matter how high a fence or wall is built. So ultimately, we are not going to be safe until everyone is safe, ”Biden said after purchasing 100 million more doses.
He was correct in the diagnosis, but did not say how he was going to cure the patient. He did not promise to share the gigantic surplus that will be available in a few months. The integration of border and cross-border communities is an inescapable reality that is imposed on politics and selfishness. No one is safe until the neighborhood is safe.
Twitter: @DoliaEstevezstly
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