Vaccines and the World: Shot Power?
The realities of vaccine nationalism—where countries prioritize first access, undoubtedly favoring wealthy nations—will become an increasing challenge of COVID-19 recovery in the coming months and one which threatens to further deepen inequality as well as geopolitical divides. As vaccination schemes get under way around the world, many countries are already caught in geopolitical quandaries about vaccine procurement, distribution prioritization and the choice between hard-to-get Western vaccines versus those produced by more accessible, but potentially less reliable, Chinese and Russian manufacturers. As anticipated, demand for Western jabs produced by Moderna, BioNTech-Pfizer, and AstraZeneca remain high in the developed world while interest in Chinese and Russian-produced vaccines is driven by low and middle income countries. As of January 25, 24 countries have secured access to the Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, while 13 countries have ordered Russia’s Sputnik V.
Leaders must consider the impact vaccine nationalism may have on local employee populations and relationships with national governments as they consider their own vaccination policies as well. New geopolitical leverage granted by the production, distribution and effectiveness of vaccines by Russia and China in regions such as Africa and Latin America, where competition is especially intense for accessible inoculation, may add an additional complication to doing business there for the foreseeable future.
