Did vaccine inequity allow Omicron to emerge? Here’s what you need to know

Canadarsquos Covid19 vaccination rate is 76 per cent mdash 10 times higher than it is across the continent of AfricaWhile people in the wealthy West have had preferred access to multiple rounds of vaccines vast numbers of people especially in Africa and on the Indian subcontinent havenrsquot received a single dose This has permitted the virus to thrive and accelerated the process of mutation adding months and perhaps years to the pandemicWherever Covid19 has the chance to linger variants develop and travel This entirely predictable pattern is destined to repeat itself unless countries with resources share vaccines with others that cannot afford themWealthy countries have yet to meet their pledges to provide equitable global access to vaccines via COVAX an international collaboration to procure and distribute Covid19 vaccines and other initiatives The resulting lack of broad global vaccine coverage made the rise of another variant like Omicron inevitableFor Canada it is more critical than ever to carefully balance the supply of vaccines available for domestic use while prioritising international sharing mdash and encouraging regional manufacturingMillions of preordered vaccine doses When the Covid19 crisis started major manufacturers presold their vaccines to governments as they were being developed but before they were tested as a way of funding their work including clinical trialsCanada and other developed countries ordered millions of doses enough to cover their populations many times over with promises to share their excess vaccines with other countries That has not happened quickly enough While logistical legal and other barriers did impede the wider distribution of vaccines there appears to be a lack of will to overcome themThe momentum gained by accelerating the development of vaccinations has now been lostHundreds of vials with red lids on a conveyor belt Vials waiting to be filled with Pfizerrsquos Covid19 vaccine at a production plant in FranceThird doses and booster shots will be important to controlling both the ongoing threat of Delta and the spread of Omicron Canadians should certainly heed public health guidance and get their shots when they are recommendedOnce vaccine doses are in Canadian freezers and fridges they arenrsquot going anywhere and declining a dose wonrsquot mean that it is redistributed to other parts of the world that need themOn a federal level Canada should only buy what is needed domestically and commit to accelerating the distribution of vaccines elsewhere The same is true for all wealthy countriesThe rise of Omicron Watching the rise of Omicron is particularly frustrating It has been apparent since the outset that the spread of Covid19 needed to be slowed globally precisely to prevent variants from emerging That message should have been clearer after the spread of the agile Alpha variant It should have been clearer still from the swift attack of the Delta variantVariants like Delta and Omicron will arise when the burden of infection is high and vaccination rates are low as is the case with many countries in the Global South Identifying variants by their country of origin perpetuates a long legacy of representing racialized people as originators or carriers of diseaseIn fact the world has been served well by South Africarsquos admirable investments in disease surveillance that turned up the newest Covid19 threatThere is no way to know where in the world the Omicron variant actually emerged even though it was first detected in South Africa South Africa has been down this road before with HIV and had a welldeveloped pandemic surveillance system that allowed it to detect this variantInvesting in global health Canada has not historically invested in global health infectious disease research or in vaccine innovation and manufacturingAs a result our country is a consumer of Covid19 vaccines rather than a contributor to the global supply Despite having small manufacturing facilities that had capacity to contribute a few million doses Canada lacked the political will to repurpose these facilities to assist with the global vaccine effortRegional manufacturing here and abroad could enable quicker worldwide vaccination Vaccine manufacturers are already contracting local manufacturers in India and Africa to make vaccine doses but these doses are being shipped to the West instead of being available locallySharing knowledge and technology that can help countries in the Global South develop vaccines and vaccinate their own populations will have a greater longterm benefit for the world than trying to stop variants by closing bordersAs the crisis has worn on we have invested in domestic manufacturing in Canada but it will take years to staff these plants with trained personnel let alone create innovative vaccines that are more suitable for distribution to the Global SouthRather than being consumers who contribute to inequitable vaccine distribution we have an opportunity to weave vaccine equity into these investmentsWe can commit to training people from countries where vaccines are needed most to equalise access to expertise We can commit to global partnerships to distribute manufacturing equitably and we can be advocates for changeAs we rebuild and invest in vaccine development and production we have an opportunity to become leaders in vaccine equity and reduce the burden of infectious disease now and in the futureThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever