What Lies Behind Biden’s “Vaccine Generosity”?

The Biden administration has made two coronavirus-related decisions that are important, but they also must be put in context.

The more recent one affirms that the US government will not protect patent information for vaccines created in the United States. The earlier decision indicated the White House plans to ship 60 million vaccine doses to various nations.

These choices are being widely applauded around the globe, and perhaps they should be: The country whose citizens often brazenly claim is the best in the world is finally showing some generosity.

However, it took weeks for the administration to affirm that humanity – standing down from not sharing the vaccine information – mattered over profits. Don’t forget that the major vaccine makers didn’t support sharing the information they had even though the global community knew such data would allow more countries to produce desperately needed vaccines. I’ll have more to say about that in a minute.

Before you get too excited about the 60 million doses, please remember these planned shipments will contain only the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not approved for use in the United States. You might recall concerns about blood clots have cast a shadow over the AstraZeneca vaccine; and because of that potentially deadly side effect, many European nations temporarily stopped using it. Therefore, safety reviews also must first be completed by the Food and Drug Administration, and that means it will be at least a couple of weeks before any vaccines depart the United States.

In addition, please do not forget this feel-good narrative of 60 million doses means only 30 million people around the world will benefit from what the US has outlined. With the world’s population rapidly approaching eight billion people, that means approximately 0.375 percent of people across the globe will receive a vaccine exported by the US.

We also cannot ignore the devastation unfolding throughout the globe as we consider the merits of just 60 million vaccines. More ominously, if the current humanitarian crisis in India were not happening, there would be the uncomfortable reality that fewer vaccines likely would be sent elsewhere.

No one doubts they are critically needed: CNBC reported this frightening statistic a few days ago: “To date, an average of one-in-four people in high-income nations has received a Covid vaccine, compared to one-in-over-500 for people in low-income countries.”

“At the current rate, the bulk of the adult population in advanced economies is expected to have been vaccinated against the virus by the middle of next year, whereas the timeline for poorer economies is likely to stretch to 2024 — if it happens at all.”

It seems simple to understand why the Biden administration is now ready to export desperately needed doses: America is far ahead of many other nations in vaccinating its people, and there is no longer a need for the questionable AstraZeneca vaccine in the country. If you are one of those Americans who has been fully vaccinated, it is easy to rally around the idea of exporting a critical product.

But those pesky headlines emanating from other parts of the world about other nations giving away their vaccines should embarrass many Americans and make them question just how generous their government is being right now.

Well before the United States was willing to share its riches, China and Russia, in particular, were packing cargo planes with coronavirus shipments and flying those aircraft somewhere. According to the Manila Times, “China and Russia have shipped nearly 1 billion doses to over 60 countries, including huge countries hit badly by the pandemic, such as Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and Chile. Most of China’s shipments so far were donations…”

By the way, those words were written in the middle of March, and that means all of us can say with confidence that the figure of “nearly 1 billion doses” has increased.

Let’s do some math again: One billion doses mean 500 million people can be vaccinated; and 500 million people is roughly 6.25 percent of the world’s population.

So, process the data again: 1 billion versus 60 million means more than six percent of the world’s population versus three-tenths of it.

Is there a tip of the hat in recognition of what most especially China has done? Hardly. That would not fit the baked-in US media narrative that China and Russia cannot be trusted. Ever. And if you dare to think US pharmaceutical companies are applauding what China and Russia are doing, well…stop that.

As I mentioned on my blog just the other day, those companies are seeking only to protect themselves; the Financial Times report referenced in that blog post notes Big Pharma is more concerned with retaining patent rights over the vaccines rather than saving people.

I stand by the words I wrote in that post: “Big Pharma’s willingness to play the China and Russia cards; this is a clear scare tactic and designed to get Americans to fear what Beijing and Moscow might do with access to the vaccine information.”

“Profits over people, with a dose of unnecessary fear thrown in.”

The next time you read or hear that the US is figuring out where those 60 million doses will go, perhaps you ought to offer a polite “way to go!” along with a stern question: “What took so long?”

Then ask when that person thinks the US will come close to what China is doing. Because as I see it, a nation that demands to be the global leader must show compassion when it is needed most.