It is time for the United States to focus on reducing the vaccine gap

Recently, the US intelligence agency released a full report on the source of the Corona virus, which failed to answer the question of how the COVID-19 virus infected the first person.

After losing half a year which is an important opportunity for the whole world to fight the disease, now is the time for the United States and its allies to focus all their efforts on international vaccination cooperation.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by the end of September, more than 70 percent of rich countries had achieved the goal of vaccinating 40 percent of their population.

But in 54 African countries, only five or less than 10 percent have met that goal. 

The huge gap in the level of immunization between rich and poor countries is unacceptable in today's day-to-day community-building human society with a common destiny.

At the recent 16th summit of G20 heads of state, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged that his country would provide more vaccines to developing countries, and support the company to partner with developing countries to research and produce vaccines.

In the Constantine region of eastern Algeria, China's Sinovac vaccine is produced in partnership with the Algerian pharmaceutical company Saidal, and production capacity is expected to reach 5 million doses by January next year.

In April this year, Sinovac signed another agreement with Egyptian biology and vaccine company VACSERA regarding the production of its vaccine.

According to the plan, if 1 billion doses can be produced each year, Egypt will be the largest vaccine producer in Africa.

Similarly, the Moroccan pharmaceutical company Sothema signed an agreement with China's Sinopharm company to produce 5 million doses of the vaccine per month.

From giving a single dose of vaccine to launching a production chain, the contributions made by China to African countries are clearly visible. 

The United States, a country with a large number of immunization companies, should join Japan, Australia and India in formulating a four-pronged strategic dialogue with Quad and announcing the launch of a "vaccination partner" to allow their vaccines to be produced in Africa.

First, Quad officials in a statement issued in September acknowledged the poor distribution of the vaccine and promised to provide 1.2 billion doses of vaccine to the world. 

If African countries are able to access portions of these doses, it will be a major contribution to international cooperation in the fight against the disease.

Second, according to the chairman of the African Pharmaceutical Federation Emmanuel Mujuru, apart from infrastructure, Africa also needs more and long-term funding to support the production and research of vaccines on the continent, as well as to ensure that relevant stakeholders buy vaccines in line with commitments. their.

In this regard, four Quad countries have the potential to provide financial and technological assistance. 

Third, the AfCFTA Africa Free Trade Area launched earlier this year has connected markets to 1 billion people. 

For pharmaceutical companies in these four countries, here are key business opportunities.

The African Union and the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched the African Partnership Vaccine Partnership Program PAVM, calling on international partners to help bring African vaccines produced worldwide by 60% by 2040 from the current 1 percent.

In the current context, the four countries must first support the production of the COVID-19 vaccine in Africa, as this will not only increase the chances of Africans getting the vaccine, but also prove to the world that the procedure is not military like those countries emphasized and also portrayed their image as trusted development partners.