Indeed, until we are all protected against COVID-19, the risk of new mutations occurring among partially vaccinated populations represents significant global risk: no-one is protected until we’re all protected. According to Amnesty International, it was also a result of side deals with COVID vaccine manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies who ‘restrict fair access to life-saving pandemic products’.Ī course correction rooted in equity, human rights and justice is necessary if we are to avoid a repeat of failures in the global response to COVID-19. Inequitable vaccine distribution and the consequential dismal immunisation coverage in low-income countries was described by the UN secretary general as ‘an obscenity’ and in part, a result of vaccine nationalism and hoarding by wealthier nations. According to a Nature analysis based on a study published in the Lancet, this inequity caused 1.3m preventable deaths worldwide in that first year of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
While the UK was launching the 2021 winter booster campaign to mitigate the risk against the Omicron variant, there were millions in lower-income countries that had not had their first vaccine. Access to vaccines has highlighted – indeed exacerbated – global health inequity, and will have certainly undermined the possibility of a fair pandemic recovery. Further, the technology will be an essential tool against future pandemic threats, knowing that a new vaccine can be manufactured within 45 days of a pathogen being sequenced.Īn important phrase in that last paragraph was ‘our population’.
This technology has not only allowed protection of our population from current and future variants of COVID, but allowed development and approval of new novel vaccines against Ebola and opened up the possibility of vaccines against Epstein-Barr Virus, and even possibilities against HIV. As a result, after only nine months, we were able to reduce the risk of hospitalisations, severe infections and ultimately death with the fastest and biggest vaccination programme in the world. We have seen vaccine technologies that were early in the usual 10-year development programme progress through phase two and three clinical trials simultaneously, with many of the usual hurdles that delay the high-quality research the UK is famous for being reduced or eliminated completely. We have seen clinical academics working closely with pharmaceutical companies, NHS clinical colleagues and government funders to achieve the Recovery platform study, cutting through red tape with unprecedented speed that could deliver clarity over which drugs are effective for the management of acute COVID at which time point in their disease. However, from this very dark cloud there have been a few silver linings. Whichever side of this debate you’re on, the tragedy of 760m cases, 6.9m deaths and untold millions of patients with longer-term complications is inescapable.
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