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Vaccine apartheid is cleaving the world in two. How to fix it, part I. https://lpeproject.org/blog/how-to-vaccinate-the-world-part-1/ /1
The key to solving this problem is seeing it for what it is. It is man made, a problem of private power and monopoly. Our global R&D system layers privatized control and profits atop open science and public subsidy, and reproduces colonial dynamics in new forms. /2
To fix the prob, we need to massively scale up vaccine production to meet needs in low- and middle-income countries. We need supply chains spread across multiple regions, including all effective vaccine types to get to the goal, including mRNA, and one-shot vaxes. /3
Vax companies and many commentators say it can't be done. Don't believe them. We went from zero doses of COVID vaccines to several billion doses in just a few short months. Firms out there say they can help, esp. if patents and secrecy can be overcome. /4
And PEOPLE!! Be skeptical of pharma's claims. Monopolists have perfectly rational reasons to restrict supply, even in a pandemic. It can be profit maximizing to focus on rich country markets and to keep the know-how secret to control the market for vaccines in the long run. /5
Pfizer’s CFO said the quiet part out loud --> “As this shifts from pandemic to endemic, we think there’s an opportunity here for us.” In this global calamity, his attention was on this “significant opportunity . . . from a pricing perspective.” https://theintercept.com/2021/03/18/covid-vaccine-price-pfizer-moderna/ /6
Why are we allowing secrecy and patent barriers to stand in the way, when so many are suffering, and our own health is at stake? Variants are a risk to all of us. An unchecked pandemic will keep turning up new ones. /7
Next post will explain what the US can do to help, and the legal authorities that it can use. And don't @ me about the TRIPS waiver, people. It's one leg of a stool - we need to ensure no patent barriers, AND scale up manufacture, AND share know how to get there. /FIN
