The story of vaccine haves and have nots

In the West,people are refusing to take jabs,but inAfrica,there aren't medicines,let alone vaccines.

There are talksabout global cooperation, butthis is the end result.It isa logistical nightmare.

This whole pandemic has been a learning curve.The lessons learnt in the lastyearshould help us prevent the next pandemicif countries are willing to learn.

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Right now,this is a world of vaccine haves and have nots.In the United States,doses aregettingwastedin refrigerators.In Japan,they don't have enough syringes.

It's a complete breakdownin terms ofglobal cooperation and planning.

Earlier,multilateral and regional groupings have failed to boost cooperationbut on Thursday,Saarcworkshop was South Asia's chance tomake theright amends.

The virtual meeting was convened by Indiaand around10 ofIndia'sneighboursparticipated along withSaarcmembers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the meetingandtalked about promoting best Covidpractisesand the need for SouthAsianunity.

Some proposals laid outwerea visa regime for medical workers,a regional air ambulance for health contingencies,and most importantly,sharing vaccine efficiency data.

The only issue is thatgetting everyone onboardin this political climate will be next to impossible.

Politicisationof the pandemichas been happening. Now,even vaccine approvals and purchases are political.Venezuela will only use Russia'sSputnik.Iran will let its people die before usingUSjabs.Pakistan is at the mercy of Chinese doses.Add to this,a breakdown in supply chainsand we have a full-blown crisis.

More than 180 million Americans have been inoculatedandin Africa,the jabs haven't even arrivedyet.At this rate,it will be 2023 before large parts of the continent are inoculated.

Meanwhile,the world's most powerful fighting force is turning out to be anti-vaccine.Almost one-third ofUSservicemen are refusing to take the jab.The reason is unclear.Some reports say the troops are falling for internetrumours.Either way,it's a dangerous prospect.
UStroops travel the world.They eat, sleep and train in close quarters.It's a virus cluster waiting to emerge.So,the Pentagon leadership is scrambling to find a solution.

MajGen Jeff Taliaferro, joint chiefs of staff vice director for operations,"We believe that, of course, the vaccine is the right thing to do.It's clearly safe for service members and we need to continue to educate our force and help them understand the benefits and ensure there's leadership involvement in the discussion of the benefits of the of the vaccine."

Across the Atlantic,Britain is falling back on some desperate tactics.They have approved a new clinical trial.One that will deliberately expose healthy people to the Wuhan virus.It's a first during this outbreak.
During a vaccine trial,normallypeople aregiven an experimental jabbut at no point,theyare infected on purpose.In this case,volunteers are being infected in a controlled environment.

It isto understand the minimum virus load needed to trigger the infectionand understanding how the virus transmits.

90 volunteers have been roped infor it.Allareaged between 18 and 30.Theywillbe paid 88 pounds per dayasthecost of putting their lives on the line.

Human challenge trials have been done beforeasthey can be helpful in understanding more about a disease.But the fact that the UKisdoing this now just goes to show how dire the situation is.

The world would do well to take a leaf from India's playbook,cooperation,solidarity,andneighbourhoodfirst.These have been the pillars of India's pandemic response.