What’s Wrong With Vaccine Nationalism?

VACCINE NATIONALISM
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Vaccine Nationalism
Global vaccine distribution raises controversial issues revolving around ethics, logic and public health. These issues have attracted the attention of health professionals, diplomats, economists and the general public. Many vaccine manufacturers, national leaders, and international organizations recognize ethics as the core element in deciding whether or not to practice vaccine nationalism (Emanuel et al., 2020, p. 1309). Despite this recognition, the stakeholders have made little progress toward explaining what constitutes equitable vaccine distribution. Many have endorsed fair vaccine allocation without delineating recommendations. Some have raised concerns over vaccine nationalism. Vaccine nationalism is the hoarding of vaccinations by manufacturers during an outbreak of disease to prioritize their own countries before making them available in other regions (Riaz et al., 2021, p. 1).
This strategy occurs when wealthy economies sign deals with pharmaceutical companies to distribute jabs to their own countries before making them available to other nations. The aim is to have excess shots and vaccinate the maximum number of people irrespective of the limited supply to other parts of the world (Riaz et al., 2021, p.1). This strategy was common during the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed millions of people. During this period, high-income countries scrambled for vaccines, forcing them to engage in vaccine nationalism and hindering the manufacturer's ability to supply globally. COVID-19 manufacturers hoarded vaccines to ensure their populations were safe, leaving other regions vulnerable to adverse effects of the pandemic. Even before many approved pharmaceutical companies completed their clinical trials, high income countries like the United States, Britain, Japan and the European block had procured millions of doses of promising vaccines (Riaz, et al., 2021). This was a prudent move in the United Kingdom (Riaz, et al., 2021).
After the disturbing death toll, many vulnerable populations and emergency workers received their first doses of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines. According to Katz et al. (2021), the UK purchased over 340 million shots in development: about five doses for each person, whereas the US secured around 800 million doses of more than six vaccines, with an opportunity to purchase additional one billion doses. International organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO) have condemned this practice, citing the risk of vaccine mutation and shortage of vaccines in underprivileged countries. This essay answers the question: - what is wrong with vaccine nationalism? The essay begins by examining vaccine nationalism from an ethical perspective. It then highlights the problems or flaws associated with vaccine nationalism that make critics reject it. From an individual standpoint, vaccine nationalism is a wrong strategy because it is ethically indefensible and harms every country both economically and healthwise.
What is wrong with Vaccine Nationalism?
Firstly, vaccine nationalism is ethically indefensible, meaning it is completely wrong or unacceptable. Ethical ...