COVID-19 Disparities

On Tuesday, September 28, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet spoke before the Human Rights Council in Geneva. In her statement, she emphasized the importance of putting human rights at the forefront of the recovery conversation from the Covid-19 pandemic. The head of the UNHRC also called “for greater coronavirus vaccine solidarity” amongst states and peoples, which will be the focus of this post. Among the other speakers that day was Nobel Laureate and economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz.

During his time before the Council, Stiglitz insisted that as a part of healthcare, access to medicines is to be considered a basic human right in and of itself. It is that basic right that he stated was being violated “by the failure to give equal access or even any access to the vaccines.” 

Now, both inter- and intranationally, there exist disparities in resources that undermine the healthcare system that is reliant upon it. That rings true for vaccine distribution and administration as well. It is undeniable, looking on the international level, the relative ease with which prosperous nations like the United States have had access to covid-19 vaccines, versus the incredible difficulty in emerging economies and near impossibility in most developing countries. It is impossible to ignore the role of money in medicine. In 2021, Pfizer will see sales of $35bn or more from its Covid vaccine alone. Its share price has soared. Yet, while billions of jabs have been administered, at the end of September over 50 countries - the vast majority of which are low-income - had less than 10% of their population vaccinated. The inaccessibility of vaccines has a financial component, even as the vaccines themselves are administered for free. There are those, like CEO and Chairman of Pfizer Dr. Albert Bourla, who came to the defense of such a system. They support their position with the legitimate claims that companies like Pfizer “have saved the global economy trillions of dollars,” and that money motivates innovation. Bourla and others have denied profiteering, opposed to the claims of numerous humanitarian healthcare advocacy groups. In an interview with the BBC he pointed to the fact that Pfizer “sold [the vaccine] at no profit to low-income [countries]” and even for prosperous ones was only the "cost of a takeaway meal.” But even Dr. Bourla concedes the richer states were able to place early orders on the initially limited supply. As such, the distribution of vaccines did not mirror the global need. This situation well illustrates the difficulty of reconciling the business venture that is healthcare with its humanitarian side. It will be interesting to see how those two facets of healthcare interact in the UNHCR chamber come February.

Best,

Selam Ambaw

Assistant Director