National Nurses United

"With the possibility of a safe and effective vaccine being made available in the near future, we must be prepared to distribute that vaccine equitably, and without any cost, to patients at the point of service. And that's true globally," said National Nurses United Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. COVAX, a partnership among Gavi, the World Health Organiza- tion, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), is a global initiative to assure widespread, equitable access to a vaccine. Most countries around the world—189 as of mid- December—are part of the initiative, with wealthy and middle-income nations funding it and lower income nations being covered. Notably, under the Trump administration, the United States is not part of COVAX, and neither is Russia. While some nations stockpile vaccine doses, less wealthy coun- tries may be left to share COVAX doses between them. "The hoarding of vaccines actively undermines global efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can be protected from COVID-19," said Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's Head of Economic and Social Justice, in an Oxfam article on the People's Vaccine alliance. "Rich countries have clear human rights obligations not only to refrain from actions that could harm access to vaccines elsewhere, but also to cooperate and provide assistance to countries that need it." Vaccines could be produced more easily, and in a more wide- spread way if not for intellectual property rights. According to Reuters, India and South Africa recently lobbied the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive intellectual property rules for Covid-19 drugs and vaccines. Overriding patent rules of WTO's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) agree- ment would allow generic or other manufacturers to make the new products. Unsurprisingly, Big Pharma is not on board. Several Western countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and Britain— with large domestic pharmaceutical industries—also oppose overriding the TRIPS agreement. On Dec. 10, the WTO delayed vot- ing on the proposal until 2021. According to Reuters, "Companies that have developed COVID- 19 products argue that most developing countries lack the manufacturing capacity and technology know-how to make the new products." Menghaney said there are countries, such as Bangladesh, where manufacturing could be expanded—if wealthier countries just shared the technology. "[Countries that could expand manufacturing] would require support in terms of intellectual property and tech transfer. That is not happening," she said. "We are out there asking them for more equitable access and to ensure from the smallest to the biggest coun- tries, all of them are included." Vaccine equity also means ensuring people within each country have equitable access. In the United States, nurses know our patients are often prevented from receiving lifesaving care because they can't afford to pay. This is especially true for our Black, Brown, and Indigenous patients, who are suffering an outsized impact of Covid-19 and more likely to be under- or uninsured. "Ability to pay should never be a barrier for our patients in terms of getting a safe, effective Covid-19 vaccine. That goes against basic justice and against our oath of helping and healing all people. It also goes against proper infection control because we will never emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic if only wealthy people can afford a vac- cine," said NNU President Zenei Cortez, RN. Around the globe, experts are also focused on equitable vaccine distribution to all people, even within wealthy countries. "Refugee camps should have it first," Dr. Yuan Quong Hu of Doc- tors Without Borders recently told Global Nurses United members. "There is not real medical care [there] anyway and no social dis- tancing. But they will be last." Nurses around the world know that vaccination is just one part of a strategy to curb the pandemic and should never replace proven and effective workplace and public infection control measures. But we also know that we cannot leave less wealthy countries and people behind, unvaccinated. "Nurses will always fight at the bedside and beyond for our patients' health and safety. As we approach a safe, effective vaccine, nurses around the globe will be out in the streets, demanding that it is free of cost and widely available to people everywhere," said NNU President Deborah Burger, RN. "We are reminded of our rallying cry for Medicare for All: Everybody in, nobody out. That's how we vacci- nate the world against Covid-19." Kari Jones is a communications specialist for National Nurses United. O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 19 "The hoarding of vaccines actively undermines global efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can be protected from COVID-19 . . . Rich countries have clear human rights obligations not only to refrain from actions that could harm access to vaccines elsewhere, but also to cooperate and provide assistance to countries that need it." — Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International's Head of Economic and Social Justice

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