{"id":162007,"date":"2021-12-17T19:27:43","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T19:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/covids-aftershocks-some-pharma-companies-are-denying-vaccines-to-refugees\/"},"modified":"2024-01-25T11:54:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T11:54:32","slug":"pharma-vaccines-denying-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/stories\/pharma-vaccines-denying-access\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID’s Aftershocks: Some pharma companies are denying vaccines to refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top news<\/h2>\n

Africa rising<\/strong>: COVID-19 cases are surging across Africa, with many countries experiencing a fourth wave amidst the Omicron variant. In Nigeria, the number of daily confirmed infections over the past week\u00a0jumped from 76 to 451<\/a>, following the discovery of the new variant in the country. Both South Africa and Kenya surpassed the WHO high-risk threshold of 5% for COVID-19 cases, with South Africa\u00a0exceeding a 30% positivity rate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Kenya at 6.5%.<\/a>\u00a0However, despite the surge of COVID-19 infections in Africa, the\u00a0number of associated deaths so far is lower<\/a>\u00a0than previous waves.<\/p>\n

Travelling in the fast lane<\/strong>: The Omicron variant\u00a0multiplies 70 times more quickly<\/a>\u00a0than previous versions of coronavirus, according to a new laboratory study in Hong Kong. But experts are\u00a0urging caution<\/a>\u00a0in applying findings from laboratory studies to the real world. A South African study released Tuesday suggests that Omicron\u00a0causes less severe illness<\/a>\u00a0than earlier variants but is better at eluding vaccines. The study found that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provides just 33% protection against Omicron, but\u00a0may offer 70% protection<\/a>\u00a0against hospitalization. A UK study suggests that booster shots\u00a0could be up to 75% effective<\/a>\u00a0against symptomatic infection from Omicron. Small studies of Sinovac\u2019s vaccine, the world\u2019s most widely administered, found \u201cinadequate<\/a>\u201d immunity responses against Omicron. Pfizer\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that its new oral pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90%, and should be effective against Omicron. Win-win!<\/p>\n

Deja vu<\/strong>: The WHO is\u00a0expressing concern<\/a>\u00a0that rich countries could \u201crevert\u201d to vaccine hoarding in light of Omicron, which could lead to a\u00a03 billion dose shortfall<\/a>\u00a0for the rest of the world in early 2022. Eight times more people\u00a0have received boosters<\/a>\u00a0in wealthier countries than first doses in low-income countries \u2014 despite limited evidence\u00a0that boosters are needed<\/a>\u00a0to protect against severe illness. Ghana\u2019s President Nana Akufo-Addo\u00a0warned EU lawmakers<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cvaccine nationalism\u201d and \u201cvaccine hoarding\u201d linked to boosters could hinder vaccination efforts in Africa. The wide vaccine gap between African and EU countries could undercut the EU\u2019s stated desire to \u201creset the bloc\u2019s \u2018partnership<\/a>\u2019\u201d with Africa at the EU-AU Summit in February. Maybe EU officials will find a solution to this problem at the European Council meeting on Thursday, where they\u2019ll \u201cdiscuss international solidarity and\u00a0ways of ensuring<\/a>\u00a0global vaccine coverage.\u201d Here are two ideas: ?SHARE VACCINES\u00a0<\/em>?SUPPORT A TRIPS WAIVER\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

All for some and whatever\u2019s left for all:<\/strong>\u00a0The vaccination rate for high-income countries surpassed 70% last week ??. Yet\u00a0only 8% of Africans<\/a>\u00a0are fully vaccinated ??. An alarming 89 countries are\u00a0off track to achieve<\/a>\u00a0the global target of 70% vaccination by September 2022 ?. In some good news, France announced it has donated 75.6 million vaccine doses,\u00a0exceeding its 2021 commitment<\/a>\u00a0and putting it on track to meet its commitment to share 120 million doses by mid-2022. Over 58% of those doses have gone to 35 African countries. Bravo! Check whether other wealthy countries are delivering on their promises to help end the pandemic in our\u00a0Pandemic Response Report Cards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Getting high on profits<\/strong>: 167 million people, concentrated in low- and middle-income countries,\u00a0are at risk of being excluded<\/a>\u00a0from COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. That\u2019s because just four vaccine manufacturers \u2014 Clover, J&J, Sinopharm, and Sinovac \u2014 have agreed to waive indemnification requirements for the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer, a mechanism to ensure high-risk and vulnerable populations in humanitarian settings\u00a0can access COVID-19 vaccines<\/a>. Other vaccine manufacturers, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer-BioNTech, have refused to waive indemnification, preventing COVAX from administering their vaccines to refugees and displaced people. Some companies are charging\u00a0as much as $37 per dose<\/a>\u00a0and enjoying exponential growth in revenues, profits, and market capitalization, leading to accusations of \u201cwar profiteering<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

COVAX competition<\/strong>: The WHO is calling for\u00a0a new set of rules<\/a>\u00a0for COVAX to prevent vaccine hoarding by high-income and vaccine-producing countries. COVAX, which\u00a0had pledged to deliver<\/a>\u00a02.3 billion doses to low- and middle-income countries in 2021, may only deliver 800 million doses, due in part to supply constraints. Production issues with AstraZeneca\u2019s vaccine in India has positioned Pfizer-BioNTech\u00a0to soon supplant<\/a>\u00a0AstraZeneca as COVAX\u2019s top vaccine supplier. That could pose challenges for countries not equipped to manage the cold chain storage requirements of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Meanwhile, Kenya and Rwanda have launched programs\u00a0aimed at boosting<\/a>\u00a0their capacity to build energy-efficient, sustainable refrigeration.<\/p>\n

Cheap shots:<\/strong>\u00a0The Serum Institute of India\u00a0announced it was slowing<\/a>\u00a0its COVID-19 vaccine production, due to decreased demand. It said that stems from both COVAX\u2019s shift to other vaccines, as well as absorption challenges in low- and middle-income countries, including vaccine hesitancy. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, called that explanation \u201ccondescending.\u201d He accused the Serum Institute of India of eroding Africans\u2019 trust\u00a0by abruptly ending talks<\/a>\u00a0last year with the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team over a vaccine deal believed to be almost complete.<\/p>\n

African vaccine mandates<\/strong>: African governments and companies have instituted vaccine mandates and other restrictions in response to Omicron and surging COVID-19 cases across the continent. Ghana recently\u00a0imposed a hefty fine<\/a>\u00a0on airlines, charging $3500 for every non-fully vaccinated passenger who flies into Accra\u2019s international airport. In South Africa, more universities\u00a0are instituting<\/a>\u00a0mandatory COVID-19 vaccination mandates, set to take effect in 2022. In Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the National Youth Service Corps are\u00a0enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations<\/a>\u00a0for all employees. Meanwhile, a Kenyan court\u00a0suspended<\/a>\u00a0the government\u2019s mandatory vaccination order that barred the unvaccinated from accessing certain services and public places. Only\u00a06.1% of Kenyans<\/a>\u00a0are fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n

Falling short<\/strong>: On Wednesday, the World Bank\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a $93 billion IDA20 replenishment package, well short of the $100 billion requested by African leaders. 48 bilateral donors pledged a total of $23.5 billion, flat in nominal US dollars compared to IDA19. The UK cut its pledge by an eye watering 55% ?. Due to a truncated two-year cycle, IDA19\u2019s envelope has been adjusted from $82 billion to $71 billion; the $11 billion difference will be carried over to IDA20. Nonetheless, the uninspired commitments from some donor countries\u00a0was a missed opportunity<\/a>\u00a0to better enable low-income countries to fight COVID-19 and eventually recover.<\/p>\n

Reversal of fortunes<\/strong>: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in emerging markets (excluding China) has stagnated,\u00a0due to growing concerns<\/a>\u00a0that many economies will not recover from the pandemic next year and expectations of rising US interest rates. FDI to Africa is expected to fall 25% short of 2019 levels,\u00a0reversing progress<\/a>\u00a0made on the SDGs. That comes as the World Bank estimates that\u00a0over half a billion people<\/a>\u00a0have been pushed (or pushed further) into extreme poverty due to rising health care costs, with the pandemic threatening to reverse two decades of health gains. Compounding the problem, the pandemic continues to disrupt the global economy: Several districts in the Zhejiang province, one of China\u2019s major export hubs,\u00a0shut down business operations<\/a>\u00a0due to a COVID-19 outbreak that\u2019s left half a million people quarantined and could further stress global supply chains.<\/p>\n

The numbers<\/h2>\n