LETTER | Fair distribution of Covid-19 vaccine needed to curb pandemic

LETTER | A fair and just distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine would be the key to effectively curb the pandemic at the international level.

Realising international cooperation as the only way to win the war against the virus, Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) was formed with the signing-up of 172 countries/territories.

While initially missing the September deadline, Beijing finally joined the international alliance on Oct 9.

The participation gives a significant boost to Covax as two out of nine candidate vaccines were China-manufactured while another two unlisted China-made vaccines entered phase three of the clinical efficiency test – two steps away from being approved for full use for massive immunisation.

For the global community, China is the front-runner when it comes to vaccine manufacturing.

This definitely helps to reduce the cost and would, in turn, provide affordable vaccines, especially to developing countries given the might of China’s 1.4 billion population.

Beijing's willingness to be part of the international united front against the Covid-19 outbreak is filling the leadership void created by the United States.

To date, Washington under the leadership of President Donald Trump is still refusing to join the Covax alliance, claiming that the United States would “not be constrained by multilateral organisations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organisation and China”.

Moreover, the US government did not provide any constructive measures or initiatives to combat Covid-19 other than to put all the blame squarely on China.

For example, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in denial about China's success model in combatting the outbreak and kept repeating the rhetoric of “covering-up the virus” during his interview with Japanese broadcaster NHK in the Quad meeting in October 2020.

Pompeo's first trip to Asia after the unfortunate virus outbreak did not shed any light on the US’ commitment to curb the pandemic and reconstruct the economy.

Not once the distribution of vaccine nor the economic stimulus package was mentioned.

Instead, the US, Japan, India, and Australia foreign ministers' conference was full of rhetoric aiming to discredit Beijing's effort in promoting multilateralism and international collaboration in the fight against Covid-19.

Such an outdated Cold War mechanism under the new Indo-Pacific Nato and hostile mindset are not constructive for the betterment of the Asia-Pacific region.

In comparison, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi's visits to five Southeast Asian countries have provided fruitful discussions and solutions in combating Covid-19.

He promoted “China’s sincere willingness and resolution to deepen cooperation with Asean, uphold multilateralism and maintain peace and stability”.

Most importantly, China makes Asean its priority to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine once it is ready for mass immunisation. Indonesia was the first country that signed the deal with China.

Beijing's Sinovac Biotech intended to supply three million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine for Indonesia by the end of December.

It is estimated that half of the dosage will arrive in the first week of November while the rest will reach Indonesia in the first week of December.

To date, the vaccine trials on Indonesian volunteers have run smoothly. There has been no record of side effects as the development of the Covid-19 vaccine continues to progress.

Malaysia is the next beneficiary. Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia “welcomed and appreciated China's commitment in providing Malaysia with Chinese-produced Covid-19 vaccines, once successfully developed and listing Malaysia as a priority recipient.”

Both countries are also committed to encouraging China enterprises to establish all-around cooperation with Malaysian partners in vaccine research, development, and distribution.

With Malaysia’s contribution of RM40 million to Covax, the country will enjoy better access as well as cheap and safe vaccines, especially from China.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.