Geiger, Susi and McMahon, Aisling (2021) Analysis of the institutional landscape and proliferation of proposals for global vaccine equity for COVID-19: too many cooks or too many recipes? Journal of Medical Ethics, 49 (8). pp. 583-590. ISSN 0306-6800

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Abstract

This article outlines and compares current and proposed global institutional mechanisms to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, focusing on their institutional and operational complementarities and overlaps. It specifically considers the World Health Organization's (WHO’s) COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) model as part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) initiative, the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative, the proposed TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Agreement) intellectual property waiver and other proposed WHO and World Trade Organization technology transfer proposals. We argue that while various individual mechanisms each have their specific individual merits—and in some cases weaknesses—overall, many of these current and proposed mechanisms could be highly complementary if used together to deliver equitable global access to vaccines. Nonetheless, we also argue that there are risks posed by the proliferation of proposals in this context, including the potential to disperse stakeholder attention or to delay decisive action. Therefore, we argue that there is now a clear need for concerted global multilateral action to recognise the complementarities of specific models and to provide a pathway for collaboration in attaining global equitable access to vaccines. The institutional infrastructure or proposals to achieve this amply exist at this point in time—but much greater cooperation from industry and clear, decisive and coordinated action from states and international organisations are urgently needed.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Analysis; institutional landscape; proliferation of proposals; global vaccine equity; COVID-19; too many cooks; too many recipes;
Academic Unit:	Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Social Sciences > Law
Item ID:	18291
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2021-107684
Depositing User:	Aisling McMahon
Date Deposited:	20 Mar 2024 15:29
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Medical Ethics
Publisher:	BMJ Publishing Group
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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