World Vaccine Distribution: Why American Pharmaceutical Monopolies Mean Everyone Will Lose

With the release of the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, Americans are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic. As of March 3rd, the United States is administering 1.9 million vaccines per day and has administered a total of 78 million doses since December. Analysts expect that the majority of the American population could be vaccinated by the end of the year (Huang & Carlsen 2021). While the quick roll out is obviously great news for the United States, the vast majority of the world will likely not receive vaccines so soon. Much of the developing world is struggling to gain access to vaccines because developed countries have locked up supplies by placing vast orders that could immunize their populations two or three times over (Goodman 2021). As of February 6th, only 4% of the total administered vaccines worldwide have been administered in the Global South (“Monopolies Causing” 2021).

The monopoly power of pharmaceutical companies in the United States is a leading cause of inadequate global vaccine supply. Both Pfizer and Moderna hold 20 year patents on their vaccine technology, meaning other producers do not have access to the intellectual property needed to produce vaccines on their own (Chow 2020; “Monopolies Causing”International Treatment Preparedness Coalition 2021). These patents are extremely problematic as they have provided Pfizer, Moderna, and a handful of other successful vaccine developers such as Johnson & Johnson with legal monopolies to exploit the world’s desperate need for vaccines. The monopolies also mean that these pharmaceutical companies can charge higher prices for the vaccines, which explains why poorer countries have been unable to purchase stakes in vaccine supply (Chow 2020). Meanwhile, Big Pharma is able to bring in massive profits; in 2021, Pfizer alone is expected to bring in $13 billion in revenue from COVID-19 vaccines (Chow 2020).

In order to break up the control that these American pharmaceutical companies have over global vaccine distribution, President Biden should sign an executive order mandating that any successful vaccine developer based in the United States, including Pfizer and Moderna, share their intellectual property with the world by open sourcing it. Because Big Pharma has received over $100 billion in taxpayer subsidies to produce these vaccines, the resultant technology can be considered a public good, meaning the Biden Administration has the legal precedent to take this action (“Monopolies Causing” 2021). This order would essentially give any pharmaceutical producer around the world, including producers in developing nations, the instructions needed to produce COVID-19 vaccines on their own. Such a change could massively increase vaccine supply and remove the artificial shortage of vaccines the world is currently experiencing. Currently, only 43% of the world’s total capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines is being used, a dangerously low number given the massive global demand (“Monopolies Causing” 2021).

This vaccine shortage means that developing countries may have to continue battling the COVID-19 pandemic until 2024 (Goodman 2021). According to experts, the pandemic’s prolonging could result in thousands more deaths; a Northeastern University study found that unequal vaccine distribution could result in up to two times as many future COVID deaths globally compared to a world in which vaccine distribution is proportional to a country’s population (Arntsen 2020). The researchers found that 61% of global COVID-19 deaths could be avoided if vaccines were distributed proportionally across the world, compared to just 33% of deaths avoided in the status quo where rich countries have monopolized vaccine supply (Arntsen 2020).

The failure to quickly provide vaccines to the Global South will have negative consequences for the developed world as well, including the United States. The belief that developed countries can rescue their economies on their own once they vaccinate their own populations neglects the true extent of economic globalization. A study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research estimates that the world economy could see losses of up to $9 trillion per year without swift vaccination efforts in the developing world, and more than half of these losses could be felt by developed nations (Goodman 2021). These losses are because global supply chains rely on intermediate goods that travel through several different countries, most of which are developing. Developed countries cannot escape their trade linkages with the developing world. Thus, if much of the populations of developing countries are kept out of work due to lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions, corporations in developed countries will not be able to gain access to the supplies they need to produce goods, resulting in drawn out economic consequences, including job losses and prolonged recession (Goodman 2021). Additionally, continued low economic output in developing countries means these countries will continue to have fewer resources to buy goods and services from advanced economies, preventing many multinational corporations from recovering from their own pandemic-related shortfalls (Çakmali 2021).

An even scarier impact of a slow global vaccine rollout is the potential for further virus mutation. If a larger percentage of the world is shut out from the vaccine for several more years, it increases the risk that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 will evolve to the point that the vaccine becomes substantially less effective (Tepperman 2021). Such an evolution would hugely extend the time that the world will have to deal with the pandemic, leading to more deaths and suffering. It is thus critical that developed and developing countries alike work together to more equitably distribute vaccines and address the root causes of vaccine shortages.

At the end of the day, regardless of the negative impacts the United States could face at home, as a self-proclaimed global defender of human rights, the United States has an obligation to take action to promote a more equitable worldwide distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Make no mistake, vaccine distribution is absolutely a human rights issue. Extending the time that developing countries will have to wait to vaccinate their populations could result in thousands more deaths, keep millions more people in poverty, and continue to destabilize nations across the globe (Tepperman 2021). It is time for the United States to use its power for moral good so that the livelihood of millions of people is not sacrificed in favor of the profits of Big Pharma.

References

Arntsen, Emily. “If Rich Countries Monopolize COVID-19 Vaccines, It Could Cause

Twice as Many Deaths as Distributing Them Equally.” News @ Northeastern. Northeastern University,, 14 Sep. 2020, news.northeastern.edu/2020/09/14/if-rich-countries-monopolize-covid-19-vaccines-it-could-cause-twice-as-many-deaths-as-distributing-them-equally/.

Çakmali, Cem, et al. “Economic Costs of Inequitable Vaccine Distribution across the World.” VOX, CEPR Policy Portal, Feb. 2021, voxeu.org/article/economic-costs-inequitable-vaccine-distribution-across-world.

Chow, Heidi. “The COVID-19 Vaccine Must Be Universally Available. Anything Less Is Immoral.” The Wire Science, 23 Nov. 2020, science.thewire.in/health/covid-19-vaccine-universally-available-big-pharma-monopolies/.

Goodman, Peter S. “If Poor Countries Go Unvaccinated, a Study Says, Rich Ones Will Pay.” The New York Times,, 23 Jan. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/01/23/business/coronavirus-vaccines-global-economy.html.

Huang, Pien, and Audrey Carlsen. “How Is The COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Going In Your State?” NPR, 24 Feb. 2021, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state.

“Monopolies Causing ‘Artificial Rationing’ in COVID-19 Crisis as 3 Biggest Global

Vaccine Giants Sit on Sidelines.” International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, 6 Feb. 2021, itpcglobal.org/covid19-vaccine-monopolies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=covid19-vaccine-monopolies.

Tepperman, Jonathan. “The Global Vaccine Rollout Is Failing—and That Puts Everyone,

Everywhere, In Danger.” Foreign Policy, 28 Jan. 2021, foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/28/vaccine-rollout-covid-19-economic-unrest/.