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This task simply cannot be undertaken successfully by any one country no matter how large or powerful that one country may be and no matter whether it happens to be home to the enterprise that succeeds first in developing an effective vaccine. This initial step will be followed by an extraordinarily complicated process of production and distribution within and between countries worldwide. Instead, the intense health and economic suffering caused by the pandemic will persist and indeed increase worldwide.ĭiscovering an effective vaccine is only the first step toward ending the pandemic. Without much more multilateral cooperation on access to new vaccines, the “whack-a-mole” resurgence of COVID-19 in country after country cannot be prevented, and the pandemic cannot be stopped. It can only be defeated by internationalism in the form of mutually beneficial multilateral cooperation. The devastating COVID-19 pandemic cannot be defeated by nationalism. In pursuit of this goal, practicality demands multilateral cooperation. In keeping with the common pledge made by all the members of the United Nations in the Sustainable Development Goals, this multilateral effort must make certain that “no one will be left behind,” and it must “endeavour to reach the furthest behind first.” The goal is to end the pandemic, and this goal cannot be achieved if a vaccine is not available to everyone sooner rather than later, including - and especially - those in the poorer countries of the world. Furthermore, this global effort should get the vaccine to all who need it. An international cooperative effort should work to distribute the vaccine first to wherever it is needed most, without consideration of national wealth or power. The antidote to vaccine nationalism is vaccine multilateralism. Vaccine nationalism will save fewer lives, and it will pull the nations of the world farther apart at a time when the world must unite to confront the global emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic.

They must not be deployed in ways that will hasten the turn away from internationalism and toward an insular nationalism. To provide the most protection to people from anywhere, the COVID-19 vaccines must be distributed in ways that will save the most lives everywhere. Wherever we may live, giving preference to vaccinating our fellow nationals who are the least at risk of COVID-19 infection over people from other countries who are the most at risk is not only morally wrong, but also contrary to our national self-interest. Yet, while billions of people worldwide await their doses of the new vaccines, many countries are also courting “ the tragedy of vaccine nationalism.” With potentially lethal global consequences, these countries are giving unwise priority to the immediate universal national vaccination of their own citizens instead of to a scientifically targeted national and international vaccination, which would be the most effective means of saving lives everywhere and should be the global goal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When COVID-19 vaccines become widely available, millions of lives can be saved, and the loss of US $375 billion to the global economy every month can be prevented. The world is rightly celebrating the unprecedented speed with which vaccines for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, are approaching manufacture and distribution stages.