WHO Coronavirus COVAX Plan

As 2021 begins, many people hope this year will bring the end of the coronavirus pandemic. As multiple vaccines are currently in the works and the US and UK are approving the Pfizer vaccine, many hope that 2021 will bring the end of the pandemic. With the approval of the vaccine, it raises another question: who will get the vaccine?  

In mid 2020, The WHO (world health organization) organized the COVAX plan: a plan to ensure equal distribution between countries of the coronavirus vaccine. The plan is to target the poorest 92 countries to ensure that they have the financial means to supply their population with the vaccine. This plan only covers the first (2 billion) doses of the vaccine, and only is insured through halfway of 2021. The 2 billion they will have access to is the AstraZeneca-Oxford university vaccine.   

The WHO’s goal of vaccinating the poorest 92 countries currently seems out of reach. The vaccine they have gained access to has yet to be approved and there are already two vaccines which have been approved in multiple countries.  

These efforts to ensure equal distribution of the vaccine have not been enough to ensure equal distribution. The richest countries in the world have been able to order the most vaccines per 1000 people. The COVAX plan has yet to create a valise solution to solve the problem of equal distribution. This lack of insurance to vaccinate the poorest countries has led to the fear that poor countries cannot vaccinate with the rest of the world and will deal with the pandemic for far longer than richer countries. This also should create a global fear because if one population is at risk of COVID-19, the world is at risk. Canada health professional Min Karina said, “As long as one country is at risk, we are all at risk.”  

This only proves what the pandemic has highlighted since its start. The harsh reality that rich countries and poor countries look as if they were from different planets. Countries with the most money are the ones least harmed by the pandemic, and poorer countries are the most harmed by the pandemic. The pandemic highlights the mass economic and social inequality that covers the world in the 21st century.