Vocal Voices

One of the positives from the pandemic could be that a group of world leaders is calling for a Global Treaty to prevent isolationism and nationalism when the next pandemic hits - notice it is a "when" not an "if".

Is it a workable solution or is it politicking? It sounds fine, in principle, but the devil will be in the detail of making it work.

To say I am sceptical would be a massive understatement, but I sincerely hope that I am wrong. Getting countries and businesses to share info and work together on research, production and distribution will be one hell of a task. At the moment there is a lot of bad blood out there and there is a lot of hard work to be done to clear it up.

Workingman wrote:One of the positives from the pandemic could be that a group of world leaders is calling for a Global Treaty to prevent isolationism and nationalism when the next pandemic hits - notice it is a "when" not an "if".

Is it a workable solution or is it politicking?

It's politicking, in spades.
Whenever I hear politicians weeping and wailing about the evils of nationalism I see politicians who want to transfer power to unaccountable transnational bodies run by paper shufflers who are responsible to no one, but think of themselves as an elite.
It's a big no from me.
Yes, there has been a lot of bad blood. It seems strange that the EU is getting pilloried by our press for trying to hold back legally ordered and paid for vaccines whilst India actually has held back vaccines with very little comment.
If we end up with spare vaccines or spare capacity we absolutely should help others.

It is part politicking and part a recognition that things have to change. Hopefully the attempt will change the way we respond to Pandemics. For instance we have already broken down the barriers on vaccines. At the start of the pandemic the whole academic community and the vaccine authorities were bleating about "don't expect a vaccine in the next 5 years, it takes 7-10 years to get a vaccine". That viewpoint, in the middle of a pandemic with millions dying, is well and truly D E A D. Next the paperwork required to release a vaccine when millions are dying needs to be fixed.

So that is one part I hope for from this review and initiative. As for isolation and nationalism? Well if we truly had a global supply for vaccines which could be brought into play, then it would be good and could be dealt with that way. But, in the end, it is a three speed world. There are those who can and do. Those who can but don't want to afford it and those who can't. A solid block of 1/3 of the world's population falls into the can't bracket. I simply don't see a way in which those who can and do will let their own people die just to vaccinate those who can't.

Let's be honest here, we live in democracies and those democracies have populations who, relatively, pay a lot of taxes to ensure that they get the healthcare they need. I simply cannot see those people being happy with somewhere around half their produced vaccines going to countries which have leaders who believe that their economy is their own personal treasure chest and don't invest in people or health.

It is also politicking. The EU has made a LOT of enemies by their catastrophic approach to buying and producing vaccines. No pre work, no investment in production, just sign a contract then throw a strop when it doesn't all work out. The world is watching. Also the US and their US first approach is not popular, but it is, at least, more expected. The EU was a total shock, they have been talking one story for a lot of decades now, but when the chips are down they are no better than the US. That's going to take a very long time to die down.

The UK comes in for a bit of criticism, but then everyone can see the UK went over and above board to get the vaccines and get them to our people. Paying top dollar for the vaccines, no quibbles, asking what we can do to make it work faster, engaging earlier and even putting in a large chunk of funding to see the AZ vaccine developed in the first place and ensuring that it will be sold at cost for the rest of the world. If the EU did really drive a contract at half the rate the UK is paying for the AZ vaccine, that is despicable and is taking vaccines from the third world to save trivial sums of money. I hope, for their sake, that it is not true.

The UK will give away extra vaccine doses. There is no doubt about that. But it is going to be highly unpopular when we give them to CovaX and not to the EU.

On the India front, I can understand the reticence to censure them for holding back doses. If you look at Covax and the vaccine alliance Gavi, the Serum Institute of India is the production hub for the Covax vaccines and the AZ vaccine is the one Covax will distribute to the world. SII is having the same problems ramping up that everyone is having with vaccine quality and volume which is causing the supply issues. Unlike the EU, who haven't even certified Halix for production of the AZ vaccine, yet are refusing to allow manufactured doses to go to the UK; India is honouring its commitment to Covax to the detriment of their own supply. In these circumstances you can understand that the UK, with very high levels of inoculation already and multiple other vaccines about to come on stream, will be unlikely to censure India for meeting Our Covax goals whilst restricting internal supply and holding back vaccines for the developed world.

India say they will get the supply issue sorted out by the end of April and the UK will get the 5m vaccines when that happens.

For those who have not looked into Covax and Gavi, the UK is the third largest supporter of Covax with 3/4 of a trillion $ invested. The US is #1 with $2.5tn and Germany is second with $1tn. The EU, as a block, are 4th with $0.5tn. So, yes, the EU as a whole are twice the UK funding, but in perspective are way behind the US and UK on % of GDP invested.

The Indian doses we are missing come from our portion of the Covax supply. So, honestly, what would you prefer, given the current state of the UK rollout and that the UK appears to be falling largely under control? That we deny the 3rd world countries their Covax vaccines and force India to switch supply from them to the UK because of production problems? Or do we go with our own preparations and have a slight lull before going flat out in May and June to complete first vaccination of the whole population?

I know where I stand on that. After my heart attack I could force the issue and make them give me the vaccine as I am now a vulnerable person on a high medication dose with a damaged heart which might not make it if Covid gets a real grip on me. With the third wave well under way in France it is a real issue. I will not be asking, I will be staying at home, avoiding the shops, not interacting with people and leave the vaccine to those who have no choice but to be where the virus is. That, to me, is the way it should be.

Well, if the responses to the WHO report into Wuhan are anything to go by then any International Treaty is way off the cards.

Well they did arrive with a tanker full of whitewash and a team with brushes and rollers to make sure they got full coverage and into all the nooks and crannies.