How well prepared is the Caribbean to respond to the politically led emergence of ‘vaccine nationalism’, an approach likely to see countries with advanced bio-pharma facilities initially restrict the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine?
At present about 100 vaccines are being developed around the world. If proven to be effective one or more of them may play a role in either eventually eradicating or addressing the worst effects of the disease.
However, at present only two such candidate vaccines for equitable distribution have been included in a collaborative coronavirus related initiative known as COVAX, involving the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other global partners. One is being produced by Astra Zeneca in the UK and the other by Moderna in the US. Both are presently being tested in clinical trials on thousands of volunteers around the world for efficacy and safety, with the results expected sometime later this year.