Moderna agreed to 'equitable access' for its coronavirus vaccine, but most of its doses are going to
Source: Washington Post
Moderna agreed to ‘equitable access’ for its coronavirus vaccine, but most of its doses are going to wealthy countries
By Emily Rauhala
2/13/2021, 9:00:00 a.m.
In January 2020, a nonprofit with a mission to develop and equitably distribute vaccines invested $900,000 in a promising but untested bit of technology: Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine.
Announcing the grant, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) touted an alignment of values, namely a shared commitment to global public health. Documents suggest U.S.-based Moderna agreed to uphold the group’s “equitable access principles” — the idea that vaccines should be distributed according to need and at affordable prices.
But more than year later, with the pandemic still raging, Moderna’s successful vaccine is anything but accessible. The company has sold most of the early doses to rich countries. Poorer countries have been almost entirely shut out.
Moderna “seems to have refused to allocate or sell any of their supply beyond the wealthiest countries, the most profitable markets,” said Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Center at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.
Asked about the $900,000 grant, equitable access provisions and calls to make the Moderna vaccine widely available, company spokeswoman Colleen Hussey referred The Washington Post to a more than three-month-old news release about third quarter financial results, which noted that discussions with Covax — an initiative to equitably distribute vaccines around the world — were “ongoing.”
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/coronavirus-vaccine-access-poor-countries-moderna/2021/02/12/0586e532-6712-11eb-bf81-c618c88ed605_story.html