A lot of us are waiting for a safe & effective vaccine for #COVID. We know it won& #39;t be a silver bullet, but it does seem like it will be a key tool to manage the crisis.

But have you thought about how long it will take to make all the doses we need for everyone in the world?
No? To be honest, I hadn& #39;t either. Until I started to talk to colleagues who were worrying about it.

A lot.

Here& #39;s a https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread"> with what I learned about the problem, and what we might be able to do to change course
The truth is demand for vaccines will far outstrip supply.
One person described the challenge like this

"“It’s like we’re in the middle of a war and everyone needs a Kevlar vest.” #close">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/10/who-is-first-in-line-coronavirus-vaccine/ #close">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2...
An ugly scramble is underway as some try to buy as many COVID vaccines as they can, even before they know which ones work. The US has bought 8x the doses as its population. I guess it wants keep all its options open.

But what about everyone else? https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/19/the-world-is-losing-the-vaccine-race/">https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/1...
Can& #39;t imagine a scenario where people don& #39;t get left out

But it doesn& #39;t have to be this way.

India & South Africa (two countries that don& #39;t have the money to buy up millions of doses in advance) have a bold idea to change course. Read about it here https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏽" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏿" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (dunkler Hautton)"> https://msfaccess.org/5-reasons-new-proposal-india-and-south-africa-could-be-gamechanger-covid-19-response">https://msfaccess.org/5-reasons...
Can& #39;t imagine a scenario where people don& #39;t get left out But it doesn& #39;t have to be this way.India & South Africa (two countries that don& #39;t have the money to buy up millions of doses in advance) have a bold idea to change course. Read about it here https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable=https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏿" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (dunkler Hautton)"> https://msfaccess.org/5-reasons..." title="Can& #39;t imagine a scenario where people don& #39;t get left out But it doesn& #39;t have to be this way.India & South Africa (two countries that don& #39;t have the money to buy up millions of doses in advance) have a bold idea to change course. Read about it here https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏽" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (mittlerer Hautton)">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇🏿" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (dunkler Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten (dunkler Hautton)"> https://msfaccess.org/5-reasons..." class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
This proposal "could go a long way in solving our immediate problems: a waiver from the WTO would remove intellectual property obstacles and allow more countries to locally manufacture diagnostics and treatments, thereby reducing prices as well." https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/15/peoples-vaccine-coronavirus-covid-wto">https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
There& #39;s real need for others to get involved in manufacturing.

@Oxfam have confirmed that if we stick with the options we have now, 51% of doses are already promised to a handful of wealthy countries with only 13% of the world& #39;s population. https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/small-group-rich-nations-have-bought-more-half-future-supply-leading-covid-19">https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-...
The #TRIPSCouncil meeting today and tomorrow has a chance to approve a waiver of the rules for the duration of the pandemic that will make it easier to cooperate and share production responsibilities. This proposal from @MEAIndia and @DIRCO_ZA makes sense.
Hundreds of civil society organizations have chimed in to voice their support. So has @UNAIDS chief @Winnie_Byanyima who said it "reflects the urgency and global health emergency that COVID-19 represents" https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2020/october/20201015_waiver-obligations-trips-agreement-covid19">https://www.unaids.org/en/resour...
FYI #TRIPS delegates in Geneva & others who follow trade policy @JulianWTO_UN @USTradeRep @EUmissionWTO @VDombrovskis, I think it& #39;s worth reading @MSF_access brief on how the waiver could work to make medicine and care more accessible and affordable

https://msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/COVID_Brief_ProposalWTOWaiver_ENG_2020.pdf">https://msfaccess.org/sites/def...
You can follow @AkshayaSays.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: