Vaccine diplomacy

Arrival of Salk Polio Vaccine from the United States at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in 1957.

Vaccine diplomacy,[1] a form of medical diplomacy, is the use of vaccines to improve a country's diplomatic relationship and influence of other countries.[2][3] Meanwhile, vaccine diplomacy also "means a set of diplomatic measures taken to ensure access to the best practices in the development of potential vaccines, to enhance bilateral and/or multilateral cooperation between countries in conducting joint R&D, and, in the case of the announcement of production, to ensure the signing of a contract for the purchase of the vaccine at the shortest term."[4] Although primary discussed in the context of the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, it also played a part in the distribution of the smallpox vaccine.[5][6][7]

Early history of vaccine diplomacy

Commentators have identified vaccine diplomacy occurring as far back as the first vaccine, Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine.[8] It has also been identified in Soviet involvement with the Albert Sabin polio vaccine. The UN has also brokered ceasefires in order to conduct vaccination campaigns such as with talibans in Afghanistan.[9]

During the COVID-19 pandemic

Australia

Australia promised to ensure early access to a vaccine "for countries in our Pacific family, as well as regional partners in Southeast Asia".[10] to help them fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

China

The Sinopharm BIBP vaccine is used for vaccinations by some countries in Asia,[11][12][13] Africa,[14][15][16] South America,[17][18][19] and Europe.[20][21][22] Sinopharm expects to produce one billion doses of the BBIB vaccine in 2021,[23] and supplied 200 million doses by May.[24]

CoronaVac is used for vaccinations by some countries in Asia,[25][26][27] South America,[28][29][30] North America,[31][32][33] and Europe.[34][35][36] Sinovac had a production capacity of 2 billion doses a year[37] and had delivered 600 million total doses.[38]

Convidecia is used for vaccination by some countries in Asia,[39][40][41] Europe,[42][43] and Latin America.[44][45][46] Production capacity for Ad5-NCov should reach 500 million doses in 2021.[47]

China pledged US$2 billion to support efforts by WHO for programs against COVID‑19, a US$1 billion loan to make its vaccine accessible for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and provide five Southeast Asian countries priority access to the vaccine.[48][49][50] The Sinopharm BIBP vaccine and CoronaVac were approved by the WHO as part of COVAX.[38][51] By July 2021, GAVI had signed advanced purchase agreements for 170 million doses of the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine, 350 million doses of CoronaVac, and 414 million doses of SCB-2019, another COVID-19 vaccine in Phase III trials.[52][53]

All of these actions have been a component in enacting China’s strategy of enacting mask diplomacy, where the state has distributed medical supplies, including Covid-19 vaccines, and financial support to other European countries, in an effort to restore China’s historically maligned and recently ignominious image. While on the other hand, these actions have demonstrated that China is a pragmatic, self-driven problem solver, willing to establish alliances with other nations contrasting the United States’ isolationist policies. [54]

In addition, China is utilizing this opportunity to distance, and even shift the narrative regarding the start of Covid-19, promoting its successes on its political model when compared to the West. [55] 

India

India sent COVID-19 vaccine to Seychelles under the Vaccine Maitri Program.

By late March 2021, India had produced 125 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and had exported 55 million doses.[56] 84 countries had received vaccines from India, either through COVAX, grants or regular purchases.[57]

India sent millions of doses of Covid-19 vaccine to 95 countries including neighboring Bhutan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives.[58] India will also supply vaccines to Pakistan through COVAX initiative.[59]

During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the Vaccine Maitri program was put on hold until July 2021 due to increased number of COVID cases in India.[60][61] As of 29 May 2021, India had exported 66.4 million doses including 10.7 million vaccine provided as grant to more than 95 nations.[62]

India's health ministry said the country will resume COVID-19 vaccine exports as a part of COVAX and Vaccine Maitri initiative, by October, promising supply development that comes ahead of high-level talks this week on solving vaccine inequity gaps, while World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has hailed India’s decision to resume COVID-19 vaccine exports as an “important development” in support of the goal to reach 40 per cent vaccination in all countries by end of the year.[63]

Mexico

Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Marcelo Ebrard announced agreements with CanSino Biologics and Walvax to conduct clinical trials for vaccines from China, with the possibility of the manufacturing the vaccines in the country.[64]

Marcelo Ebrard also announced agreements with Johnson & Johnson to trial its U.S. developed vaccine in Mexico.[64]

Japan

In July 2020, Japan agreed to provide 11.6 billion yen (US$109 million) to five countries along the Mekong River: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam over concerns with China's influence on vaccine production and distribution in Asia.[65]

Russia

Russia, the first country to claim a COVID-19 vaccine,[66] Sputnik V, says twenty countries "including Brazil, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates" have requested access.[3]

Turkey

Turkey has sent or donated CoronaVac vaccines to Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Cyprus, and North Macedonia.[67][68]

United States

During the Trump Administration, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said the United States will share a vaccine with other countries only after the United States' needs have been met.[3] The United States has funded[69] and placed multi-billion dollar orders purchasing hundreds of millions of vaccines from the United Kingdom's AstraZeneca and Germany's BioNTech SE in collaboration with American Pfizer.[70] The United States offered vaccine development to Indonesia in an August 2020 phone call between Mike Pompeo and Retno Marsudi.[65]

President Biden and the Quad Leaders(Japan, India, Australia)

The Biden Administration has promised to finance vaccine manufacturing in various nations with its announcement in the Quad Summit held in March 2021 that it will provide supply of up to one billion coronavirus vaccines across Asia by the end of 2022 along with India, Australia and Japan.[71] The United States vaccine export policies have been criticised as "Vaccine Apartheid" by The Independent.[72]

European Union

UK-based AstraZeneca was accused of prioritizing the UK market and when their EU vaccine production lagged behind the UK. Diplomatic protests from the Irish and UK sides resolved the matter and the threat was withdrawn.[73] In March 2021, the EU planned to suspend vaccine exports once again in order to incentivize the UK to export its domestic vaccine production.[74]

Vaccine nationalism

This led to fears about vaccine nationalism,[75][76] where developed countries would benefit in producing home-grown vaccine and poorer countries would not get access to the vaccine as soon, ultimately prolonging the pandemic.[77] A similar phenomenon was observed during the H1N1 Flu and Ebola crisis.[78] During the pandemic situation, there is a "diplomatic race ... for potential vaccines."[4]

Another concern has been that wealthier countries would gain prioritized access to vaccines based on their ability to pay.[79] The COVAX program was established with the intention of counteracting this development.[80] In 2021, an unequal distribution of vaccines based on the principle of vaccine nationalism was observed between high, middle, and low income countries. An August 2021 study concluded that this behavior has resulted in increased transmission of COVID-19, especially because it encourages the development of COVID-19 variants.[81]

Possible collaboration among countries

In early August 2020, Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hishammuddin Hussein said on Twitter that he had spoken with both Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on methods to further collaboration on vaccines.[82][83][3]

See also

  • Aid
  • Soft power
  • Science diplomacy
  • Science diplomacy and pandemics

Further reading

  • Hotez, Peter J. (2 March 2021). Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-science. JHU Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-4038-5.

References

  1. ↑ Srinivas, Krishna Ravi (11 March 2021). "Understanding Vaccine Diplomacy for the Anthropocene, Anti-Science Age". The Wire Science. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  2. ↑ Snyder, Alison. "A coronavirus vaccine is a chance for China to show its scientific muscle". Axios. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Deng, Chao (17 August 2020). "China Seeks to Use Access to Covid-19 Vaccines for Diplomacy". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  4. 1 2 Abduazimov, Muzaffar S. (2021). "Inside Diplomacy during the Pandemic: Change in the Means and Ways of Practice". Indonesian Quarterly. SSRN 3854295.
  5. ↑ Blume, Stuart (19 March 2020). McInnes, Colin; Lee, Kelley; Youde, Jeremy (eds.). "The Politics of Global Vaccination Policies". The Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190456818.001.0001. ISBN 9780190456818. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  6. ↑ Jennings, Michael. "Vaccine diplomacy: how some countries are using COVID to enhance their soft power". The Conversation. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Hotez, Peter J. (26 June 2014). ""Vaccine Diplomacy": Historical Perspectives and Future Directions". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 8 (6): e2808. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002808. ISSN 1935-2727. PMC 4072536. PMID 24968231.
  8. ↑ Riedel, S. (2005). "Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination". Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center). 18 (1): 21–25. doi:10.1080/08998280.2005.11928028. PMC 1200696. PMID 16200144.
  9. ↑ "Vaccine Diplomacy".
  10. ↑ "PM backtracks on 'mandatory' vaccine". www.ntnews.com.au. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. ↑ Liu R (31 December 2020). "China gives its first COVID-19 vaccine approval to Sinopharm". Reuters. Retrieved 31 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Turak, Natasha (18 January 2021). "The UAE is on track to have half its population vaccinated by the end of March". CNBC. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Dawn.com (2 February 2021). "PM Imran kicks off Pakistan's Covid-19 vaccination drive". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  14. ↑ Reuters Staff (24 January 2021). "Sisi says Egypt to begin COVID-19 vaccinations on Sunday". Reuters. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  15. ↑ Dumpis, Toms (27 January 2021). "Morocco Receives Half a Million Doses of Chinese Sinopharm Vaccine". Morocco World News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "Zimbabwe starts administering China's Sinopharm vaccines". thestar.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  17. ↑ "Argentina autoriza la vacuna china Sinopharm para mayores de 60 años". El Comercio. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  18. ↑ Aquino, Marco (10 February 2021). "'The best shield': Peru launches inoculation drive with Sinopharm vaccine". Reuters. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "Bolivia begins inoculation with Sinopharm jabs | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  20. ↑ "Serbia Becomes First European Nation To Use China's Sinopharm Vaccine". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  21. ↑ "Hungary first EU nation to use China's Sinopharm vaccine against COVID". euronews. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  22. ↑ "Belarus begins COVID-19 vaccinations with Chinese shots". eng.belta.by. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "Which companies will likely produce the most COVID-19 vaccine in 2021?". Pharmaceutical Processing World. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  24. ↑ "WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine in potential boost to COVAX pipeline". Reuters. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  25. ↑ TARIGAN, EDNA; MILKO, VICTORIA (13 January 2021). "Indonesia starts mass COVID vaccinations over vast territory". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  26. ↑ "Thailand Kicks Off Covid-19 Vaccine Program With Sinovac Shots". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  27. ↑ "China approves Sinovac vaccines for general public use". South China Morning Post. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  28. ↑ Rochabrun, Marcelo. "Brazil health ministry says plans to order 30 million more Coronavac doses | The Chronicle Herald". www.thechronicleherald.ca. Retrieved 26 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ↑ Miranda, Natalia A. Ramos (28 January 2021). "Chile receives two million-dose first delivery of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine". Reuters. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  30. ↑ "BNamericas - Uruguay prepares to launch COVID-19 vaccinat..." BNamericas.com. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  31. ↑ "Venustiano Carranza next up for Covid vaccination in Mexico City". Mexico News Daily. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  32. ↑ "Anticovid vaccines run out as Dominican Republic awaits arrival of more doses". Dominican Today. Retrieved 10 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ↑ "Llegan a El Salvador un millón de dosis de la vacuna china CoronaVac contra el covid-19 de la farmacéutica Sinovac". Noticias de El Salvador - La Prensa Gráfica | Informate con la verdad (in European Spanish). Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  34. ↑ "Turkey aims to vaccinate 60 percent of population: Minister – Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  35. ↑ "Vaccination with CoronaVac launched in Ukraine on April 13 – Health minister". www.unian.info. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  36. ↑ Semini, Llazar. "Albania starts mass COVID vaccinations before tourist season". ABC News. Retrieved 28 March 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  37. ↑ Liu, Roxanne (2 April 2021). "China Sinovac says it reached two billion doses annual capacity for COVID-19 vaccine". Reuters. Retrieved 2 April 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  38. 1 2 Nebehay, Stephanie (1 June 2021). "WHO approves Sinovac COVID vaccine, the second Chinese-made dose listed". Reuters. Geneva. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  39. ↑ Liu, Roxanne (25 February 2021). "China approves two more domestic COVID-19 vaccines for public use". Reuters. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  40. ↑ "Pakistan purchases over 30 million COVID doses from China: sources". ARY NEWS. 25 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  41. ↑ "Malaysia to receive CanSino vaccine this month | The Malaysian Insight". www.themalaysianinsight.com. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  42. ↑ Ashok, Rashmi (22 March 2021). "UPDATE 2-China's CanSino Biologics COVID-19 vaccine receives emergency use approval in Hungary". Reuters. Retrieved 22 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  43. ↑ "Membrii NITAG au venit cu recomandări privind utilizarea vaccinurilor împotriva COVID-19 în Republica Moldova". Ministerul Sănătății, Muncii și Protecţiei Sociale. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  44. ↑ "'Our gratitude always': From China's CanSino, Mexico welcomes biggest vaccine shipment yet". Reuters. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ↑ "Argentina issues emergency approval to China's single-dose Cansino COVID-19 vaccine". Reuters. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  46. ↑ "ISP Approves Emergency Use And Importation Of Cansino Vaccine To Fight COVID-19". Institute of Public Health of Chile. Retrieved 8 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  47. ↑ "China can hit 500-mln-dose annual capacity of CanSinoBIO COVID-19 vaccine this year". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  48. ↑ Yuliya Talmazan, Keir Simmons, Laura Saravia (18 May 2020). "China's Xi announces $2B for coronavirus response as WHO faces calls for investigation". NBC News. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  49. ↑ Ore, Diego (23 July 2020). "Mexico says China plans $1 billion loan to ease Latam access to virus vaccine". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  50. ↑ "China promises Mekong neighbours access to Chinese Covid-19 vaccine". South China Morning Post. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  51. ↑ "WHO validates Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use and issues interim policy recommendations". World Health Organization (WHO) (Press release). Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  52. ↑ "Chinese drugmakers agree to supply more than half a billion vaccines to COVAX". Reuters. 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  53. ↑ "China's Clover to supply up to 414 mln COVID-19 doses to COVAX scheme". Reuters. 2021-06-30. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  54. ↑ Wong, Brian. "China's Mask Diplomacy". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2022-01-15.
  55. ↑ "China Covid-19: How state media and censorship took on coronavirus". BBC News. 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2022-01-15.
  56. ↑ McCarthy, Niall. "America First? Covid-19 Vaccine Production & Exports [Infographic]". Forbes. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  57. ↑ "Covid vaccine: Why India's second wave has sparked global concerns". The Times of India. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  58. ↑ "India is giving away millions of coronavirus vaccine doses as a tool of diplomacy". The Washington Post.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  59. ↑ Roy, Shubhajit (2021-03-10). "India to supply Covid vaccines to Pakistan". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  60. ↑ "Has India's Vaccine Diplomacy Fallen Flat As Domestic Covid-19 Cases Surge & Global Media Lambasts The Govt?". Latest Asian, Middle-East, EurAsian, Indian News. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  61. ↑ Haidar, Suhasini (29 April 2021). "India unlikely to resume 'Vaccine Maitri' for neighbours before July". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  62. ↑ "MEA Vaccine supply". MEA. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  63. ↑ Arora, Neha; Das, Krishna N. (2021-09-20). "India to restart COVID vaccine exports to COVAX, neighbours". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  64. 1 2 "Mexico to trial China, U.S. COVID-19 vaccines, may produce some". Reuters. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  65. 1 2 "Japan's 'medical diplomacy' in ASEAN aims to sap China clout". Nikkei Asian Review. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  66. ↑ Grove, Thomas (11 August 2020). "Russia Registers World's First Covid-19 Vaccine Despite Safety Concerns". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  67. ↑ "Azerbaijan Gets First Batch of Covid-19 Vaccine Directly from China". caspiannews.com. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  68. ↑ "Turkey donates COVID-19 vaccines to North Macedonia". Daily Sabah. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  69. ↑ https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/21/coronavirus-us-gives-astrazenena-1-billion-for-oxford-vaccine.html
  70. ↑ Hopkins, Jared S. (12 August 2020). "Moderna Inks $1.5 Billion Coronavirus Vaccine Deal With U.S." Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  71. ↑ Tony Walker, The Conversation. "The Quad has made a good start with vaccine diplomacy. Now it should avoid the 'China Trap'". Scroll.in. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  72. ↑ Massie, Graeme (25 April 2021). "'Vaccine apartheid': US under fire for sitting on stockpile while developing nations face deadly shortage". The Independent. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  73. ↑ Landler, Mark (4 February 2021). "Johnson Wins Vaccine Spat With E.U., but a Struggle Over Northern Ireland Looms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  74. ↑ "EU vaccine export curbs spark dispute among member states". www.ft.com. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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  76. ↑ Lagman, JD Vaccine nationalism: a predicament in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. Oxford Journal of Public Health. 18 March 2021.
  77. ↑ Ramgopal, Kit; Romo, Christine; McFadden, Cynthia (23 January 2021). "How 'vaccine nationalism' could prolong the Covid-19 pandemic". NBC News.
  78. ↑ Talwani, Hardi (23 August 2020). "Vaccine Nationalism: The Ethical Conundrum in the age of Global Pandemic". Global Views 360.
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  80. ↑ Kupferschmidt, Kai (2020-07-28). "'Vaccine nationalism' threatens global plan to distribute COVID-19 shots fairly". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abe0601. ISSN 0036-8075. S2CID 225369189.
  81. ↑ Wagner, Caroline E.; Saad-Roy, Chadi M.; Morris, Sinead E.; Baker, Rachel E.; Mina, Michael J.; Farrar, Jeremy; Holmes, Edward C.; Pybus, Oliver G.; Graham, Andrea L.; Emanuel, Ezekiel J.; Levin, Simon A. (2021). "Vaccine nationalism and the dynamics and control of SARS-CoV-2". Science. 373 (6562): eabj7364. doi:10.1126/science.abj7364. PMID 34404735. S2CID 237199024.
  82. ↑ "Spoke on the phone yesterday with HE Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister – both countries must actively carry out #COVID19 vaccine cooperation, and explore ways to jointly ensure supply chain security to send a positive signal of unity and cooperation between Malaysia & China". Twitter. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  83. ↑ "Just spoke on the phone with U.S. Secretary of State @SecPompeo – both agreed to focus efforts on the manufacturing & distribution of the #COVID19 vaccine, once it is readily available. Also discussed regarding the #SouthChinaSea which must remain a sea of peace and trade". Twitter. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
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