The year 2020 had been dissolved in events that have in many ways completely restructured the way we see today’s world. Frankly speaking, the COVID-19 pandemic is not the only anomaly of the previous year. This virus, with its epicentre in Wuhan, China, shook the world as it swooped around the globe affecting billions, either directly or indirectly. It changed the demographics of the current world order and also affected the balance of power in many cases.
It’s important to note that, it’s not just this global outbreak that defined the previous year but, its dire consequences have revealed the many underlying issues and weaknesses in our global system. However, many other issues associated with this global outbreak also might have failed to gain our adequate attention – issues which are certainly hard to ignore and define many aspects of our new world.
One might readily assume that it is the capitalist system which is the only solution and remedy for twenty-first century problems and has helped us withstand the pandemic. However, when looking back at 2020, it is important for us to know that the current system is solely responsible for the deterioration in this global outbreak crisis that has strangled the world. According to a report by the World Bank, the previous year is likely to drive 150 million extra people into extreme poverty due to one of the worst economic crises created in centuries due to this worldwide outbreak. Ironically, it is the opposite for the wealthy.
Reports suggest, the billionaires added nearly 1.9 trillion dollars to their fortune during this pandemic according to Forbes, at a time when unemployment coupled with poverty is extremely high. Especially owners of tech companies have witnessed their net worth’s skyrocket, with some of them seeing their wealth’s even quadruple. Also, one of the ‘cruellest’ statistics that I found was that only 2,153 people own more wealth than 4.6 billion people, which constitutes to about 60% of the world population. Now this certainly exposes the immense disparity in wealth between the handful few and the many under privileged. Now, to be fair, such a system where the gap between the most affluent in society and the least affluent is constantly widening, you cannot expect the problemsto be solved.
Along with the economic devastation, comes the issue of vaccination. While, a few vaccines that have passed clinical trials and are being approved by governments for public use, its important keep in mind the costs. The Oxford/ AstraZeneca COVID vaccine was estimated to cost around 445taka (about 5 dollars) per dose in Bangladesh, even though the government promised the shots for free previously, prioritising the frontline workers initially. However, the vaccine developed jointly by Pfizer and BioNtech costs about 20 dollars and the one supplied by Moderna ranges from 10 dollars to 50 dollars. The costs do seem quite harsh, for the majority of the masses of course. This puts into question whether a large segment of the society, especially the developing world, will be able to afford the doses at a convenient cost.
It must be reiterated that this is a crisis that has affected the entire global masses at large and any vaccination drive initiated must ensure its availability to the general public. If the demands are not met worldwide, depriving majority of the populace, then this vaccination drive will certainly prove the failure of the current systems. Any vaccination drive or vaccine developing programme must be an effort administered jointly. A united effort in dealing with crises that are inflicted upon the entire humanity brings about more fruitful and effective solutions.
A combined effort is what the international community lacked or deliberately ignored since the very beginning of the crisis. With different firms and nations worldwide competing to conquer the vaccine market, it is certainly not befitting to involve the motive of making ‘large chunks of cash’ amidst this chaos or give priority to profit over the people.
At the same time people might argue that competition is healthy as it tends to ensure quality of the product and prevent monopolisation. However, we must note that all of this trouble could be averted if the vaccine development programme was a joint initiative internationally, headed by a body of representatives from all countries or government of all nations around the globe. In this way, we could achieve vaccinating the global masses more swiftly, also ensuring the general people are able to afford it. Sadly, rather than a combined initiative, what we noticed and witnessed was governments pointing fingers at each other.
One of the ugliest realities of this global vaccination drive is also the issue of distribution. Its vital to keep in mind vaccination is for all! Recently, going through the different news outlets concerning the matter of COVID vaccine, on issue really struck me. In an opinion published by TRT World it revealed the sort of ‘apartheid’ carried out by the Israeli authorities in providing vaccine to the Palestinian people. Israel has prided itself in carrying out the campaign with the most vaccines administered per capita, dubbed as the ‘fastest vaccination drive in the world,’ vaccinating about 2 million of its citizens in a matter of three weeks. On the other hand, Israel has been heavily criticised for the decision not to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the West Bank, and Gaza, home to approximately 5 million people.
High income inequality, disparity in vaccine distribution, lack of unity in the effort to curb this outbreak, all seem to expose the loopholes created by this economic and social order in the twenty-first century and proves it has actually worn out and needs some sort of reformation or maybe a replacement
There seems to be an absence of any concrete international policy to vaccinate people in the developing world or the zones of conflict. Unfortunately, countries like Canada have managed to acquire more vaccine doses per capita, whereas some nations are floundering and stumbling to even vaccinate a portion of their population. Such disproportionate nature of vaccine distribution in the developing world compared to the developed world certainly brings into question the credibility of the powerful nations as leaders and viable peacemakers of the world. The wealthy nations have not lived up to the expectations and their responsibility of ensuring the vaccine is also available for the developing world and can be afforded.
COVID vaccine disparities can be noticed also inside countries like the United States. A report by NBC news on the 4 December 2020 stated –“the Black and Latino people, who have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19, remains high as elected leaders and public health professionals work to prioritise its distribution. Fueled by a dark history of medical experimentation and unequal access to care, people in Black and Latino communities struggling with high Covid-19 rates are among those least likely to get vaccinated, health advocates say. Overcoming systemic racism and the collective trauma associated with it will be paramount as officials rush to distribute vaccines to hard-hit communities, they warn.” This certainly exposes the weak foundations of our modern world where factors such as race and ethnicity also determine whether you will be vaccinated or not.
Now to be fair, I certainly do not underestimate all the efforts put forward by the international community or, should I say, the effort put forward by the people. The health workers have fought literally on the frontline of this ‘war’ and scientists have worked day and night in developing a vaccine. However, it is important for us to keep in mind that the world has progressed a lot in terms of technology and some say we have become more “civilized” than we were maybe 2, 3, or 4 centuries back. Well, if that’s true then this crisis could have been averted or at least supressed and controlled in much more regulated fashion.
High income inequality, disparity in vaccine distribution, lack of unity in the effort to curb this outbreak, all seem to expose the loopholes created by this economic and social order in the twenty-first century and proves it has actually worn out and needs some sort of reformation or maybe a replacement. The COVID vaccine struggle is a clear reflection of all these existing difficulties. As we have entered 2021, we must keep this in mind and move forward. With such a system governing and dictating the world, we can neither fight the existing problems nor dream of building a utopia on earth.
Shah Radifat Islam is a student of Grade XI, Scholastica School, Dhaka. He can be contacted at <[email protected]>
