By Karina Gould
OTTAWA – It’s one year since the coronavirus pandemic began to dominate headlines and our lives. For many here in Canada and around the world, it has been a time of unprecedented stress and grief. We have all been waiting to sigh of relief once our family, friends and communities receive their vaccines.
It is only natural that we would focus on the health of our loved ones. But we must not forget that the virus does not observe any boundaries. Focusing solely on our domestic responses is not enough. At the same time as we are focusing on vaccinations for high-risk Canadians, we must also ensure that the rest of the world is on track for vaccination as well, and that everyone has access to safe and effective tests and treatments. Beating this virus anywhere requires beating it everywhere.
Combating a virus on a global scale is a daunting task, but there is much cause for hope. We got excited in December, when a personal support worker in Toronto received Canada’s first COVID-19 vaccine. But now that the global roll-out of vaccines through the COVID-19 Global Vaccine Access (COVAX) facility is well underway, we have even more reason to celebrate.
Since February 24, tens of millions of doses have been distributed to over 70 countries worldwide, making it the largest and fastest global vaccination campaign in history. In Ghana and the Ivory Coast, healthcare workers and high-risk populations were among the first to be vaccinated with COVAX doses, and similar campaigns are now underway in Nigeria, Jamaica, and Albania. We are witnessing the global response at work, and we should acknowledge it for its important milestone.
Canada joined COVAX last September because we wholeheartedly believe in its mission to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure equitable distribution. The facility was created to guarantee access to a wide range of vaccines, and to put smaller and poorer countries on a more equal footing vis-à-vis larger and richer ones. By buying in bulk, COVAX can spread doses worldwide in the fairest and most cost effective way possible.
COVAX is designed as a truly collaborative partnership. With 190 countries participating, it represents more than 90% of the global population, and can control far more purchasing power than most countries alone. Furthermore, when COVAX was created, no one knew which vaccines would work, or which would be approved first. That’s why Canada called on COVAX to procure some of its own doses. Our agreement with COVAX complemented our other contracts, and increased our chances of running a successful domestic vaccination campaign, while playing our part globally.
Complementing our own procurement efforts, Canada has launched investments that will also help make vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics affordable and globally accessible.
Due to our various advance purchase agreements, we could eventually get a surplus of vaccine doses. Exactly when that might happen will be determined in the coming weeks and months, as Health Canada completes its review of vaccine candidates, and as we confirm the use of vaccines in Canada.
Regardless of when we reach a surplus, we will work closely with our international partners – including other countries, Gavi, COVAX, and vaccine manufacturers – to explore all possible dosing distribution options needed. It will take time to vaccinate the entire global population. COVAX has already secured more than two billion doses for 2021, but now we need to assemble the same spirit of global cooperation to ensure that this supply continues to increase, so that no vulnerable populations are harvested. leave behind.
We can take heart knowing that we are not starting from square one. Canada has been funding global health projects in developing countries for decades, and we will continue to do so. These investments aid the fight against polio, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and Ebola, and have proven vital in helping countries respond to the COVID-19 crisis with proven, adaptable public health responses, such as testing mass and link tracking.
If this crisis has taught us anything, we must maintain the ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Less than a year after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, we had developed and approved safe and effective vaccines, which are now reaching the people who need them most.
The importance of the COVAX facility cannot be understated. It is one of today’s signal successes. For the first time ever, the world has come together to ensure universal, equitable access to a vaccine.
Our global and domestic responses to the coronavirus are inextricably linked, which is why COVAX is our best bet for overcoming the pandemic. When international cooperation succeeds, we all succeed.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2021.
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