Poorer countries desperate for vaccines may be outbid by richer neighbours

Just seven months after the outbreak of the pandemic, and even before clinical trials of experimental vaccines have ended, some developed countries (the United States, Britain, the European Union, Canada and Japan) have put in orders for at least 3.1 billion doses, according to an AFP count. Now there is a worry among poor countries that their richer counterparts may outbid them while buying Covid vaccines.

In 2009, rich countries managed to bag the first vaccines of the H1N1 flu. Now the poor countries are fearing a repeat of the situation which will put them in a vulnerable situation.

The US govt has already signed contracts guaranteeing at least 800 million doses from six manufacturers for a population of 330 million, to be delivered starting at the end of the year for some of the doses. The US is potentially in a situation of oversupply if all of the vaccines that they've invested in are successful, says Richard Hatchett, the head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

All purported Covid vaccines are currently in trial stages. Even if all of them pass the test, there will be limited quantities initially. Also, Covax has only managed to secure 300 million doses to date from AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical group that also signed separate partnership deals with the United States, Europe, Russia, South Korea, China, Latin America and Brazil.

An initiative named Covax and backed by the World Health Organisation, as well as CEPI and the global vaccine alliance group Gavi, aims to buy and equitably distribute two billion doses in 2021. Ninety-two developing countries and 80 developed countries have signed on, and the European Union on Monday announced a contribution of 400 million euros. But the United States is refusing to join the effort.

Novavax, a US biotech company, also has formed a partnership with an Indian group to produce up to a billion doses of its potential vaccine in India.