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The most effective means of containing the pandemic is a safe vaccine that is distributed quickly and fairly.
Unfortunately, we are very far from a quick and fair distribution of vaccines: While the industrialized countries have been vaccinating their populations since the beginning of the year, over 100 countries worldwide have not even received a single dose.
Model calculations by the US “Center For Global Development” show that in many poorer countries it could take at least two years before vaccines are widely available there.
The causes are manifold.
One problem is the underfunding of the World Health Organization (WHO) and its instruments.
Another concerns global vaccine distribution: bilateral upfront purchases with vaccine manufacturers have undermined a global vaccine strategy, which has driven vaccine prices high.
Some developing countries are now entering into bilateral agreements with vaccine manufacturers themselves.
In some cases, they pay significantly higher prices than industrialized countries.
For example, Uganda has to pay over US $ 7 per dose to AstraZeneca, while EU countries are only charged US $ 2.15.
So WHO Director-General Tedros is right when he says that in fighting pandemics, the world is "on the verge of a catastrophic moral failure the price of which poorer countries are paying".
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However, it is not just about a moral failure, but also an economic one.
As long as low-income countries do not have access to the right vaccines at affordable prices, we not only risk the emergence of new pandemics with vaccine-resistant corona variants, but also extend the costly duration of the acute pandemic.
According to a study by the Eurasia Group of the WHO, the ten largest economies, including Germany, would save around 153 billion US dollars in 2020/21 alone through a globally fair vaccine distribution.
In addition, the vaccine supply to the Global South is being slowed down by licensing monopolies.
They prevent other manufacturers from participating in production and production capacities in emerging countries such as India, South Africa and Brazil from being used.
So far, both the German federal government and the EU Commission have refrained from persuading vaccine manufacturers to issue cheaper licenses.
For this reason, no European pharmaceutical company has so far contributed know-how to the WHO's Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
The EU is failing to use an important lever in the fight against pandemics and to demonstrate its ability to act as a global player.
It has long been evident that the governments of China and Russia are filling this gap with their vaccination diplomacy.
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At the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) last week, the EU did not take the opportunity to iron out its omissions.
Together with the USA, Great Britain and other industrialized countries, it again rejected a proposal from India and South Africa that provides for the temporary lifting of patents and trade secrets in relation to the containment and treatment of Covid-19.
More than 100 developing and emerging countries support the application.
After all, the assembly agreed on a new debate at the beginning of June.
If the EU Commission cannot persuade the vaccine manufacturers to issue cheaper licenses in order to ensure that the WHO's manufacturing goals are achieved, it should use its weight and help the application to be successful at this meeting at the latest.
The quality of the approved vaccines would be maintained through the existing testing and approval procedures.
Public research funding and support for vaccine developers continued to be key drivers of innovation in the fight against the pandemic.
Of course, the manufacturers would have to be remunerated appropriately financially.
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In the fight against HIV - back then it was about drugs, now the priority is vaccines - the temporary suspension of patents has brought great international success in the fight against the dangerous virus and saved many lives.
It is time again to do something great in a global effort.
Source: Martin UK Lengemann / WELT
The author has been Deputy Chairwoman of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen since January 2018. Before that, she was the spokesperson for the Green Youth from 2015 to 2017.