Vaccines shouldn't just go to rich countries

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Mask seller in Zimbabwe

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Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi / dpa

It has long been complained about the deeply relaxed vaccine procurement in Germany and Europe.

The motto was: If he doesn't come today, he'll come tomorrow.

Or just in September.

Let's put it this way: if the owner of the small grocery store around the corner from me had taken care of things, there wouldn't be fewer cans today.

But the mistake is made.

The old and weak who died in the past few weeks because the vaccine arrived too late will not be resurrected.

Now the view has to widen beyond the narrow national borders.

More than 100 countries in the world have so far not badged anything because they lack the opportunity to do so.

The rich countries of the world should do everything possible to end this tragedy.

It would be morally necessary and strategically wise, it would be altruistic and selfish at the same time - a happy, because rare, combination.

“Biontech for the world!” Should be the goal of politicians and companies these days.

There is a moral obligation to vaccinate not only American or German citizens as quickly as possible.

Poorer countries have neither the relationships with manufacturers nor the money for their substances to be supplied even remotely in a timely manner.

Development aid should therefore explode now at the latest to make vaccines accessible to everyone.

The previous donations to the international vaccination alliance Covax are still far too stingy.

Every additional billion invested would be beneficial - for your own conscience as well as for your own health.

There is a moral obligation not only to vaccinate American or German citizens as quickly as possible.

The more undisturbed the virus can spread in the unvaccinated parts of the world, the more dangerous mutations there will be.

And the more mutants there are, the less our beautiful vaccines, which are kept away from the rest of the world, help us.

Because at some point they could be just as useless as the AstraZeneca vaccine is now in the case of the South African variant.

The fight against the epidemic would basically start all over again.

The cunning virus takes advantage of the unequal distribution of wealth as if to punish the world for this injustice.

It would have been all the more important for the Western states to enable manufacturers to produce gigantic vaccines.

Any excessive overproduction in Europe or America would also have been a blessing for the whole world.

Now only radical ways can help.

In the coming week the Council of the World Trade Organization is expected to decide again on a motion from India and South Africa.

He plans to suspend the patent rights for Covid-19 drugs and vaccines until the end of the pandemic.

If this happens, researchers and companies would lack the incentive in the future to develop brilliant materials in a short time, according to critics.

But that's nonsense.

For one thing, much of this research received state support anyway.

On the other hand, the manufacturing companies could like to be paid princely for their patents.

More than 100 countries already support the application for patent suspension.

If the EU were to take their side too, the necessary majority would be certain - and vaccine production could be ramped up worldwide.

Unfortunately, this step is denigrated as anti-business, it would be the opposite.

Because only in a healed world can it be profitable in the long term.

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