In May, I volunteered to be deliberately exposed to the coronavirus to quickly test vaccines in a potential “human challenge trial”. I am not alone: more than 37,000 people from 162 countries have volunteered through 1 Day Sooner, a non-profit advocating on behalf of these volunteers. The risks in such a trial are real and uncertain, but I felt ethically compelled to take that risk if it could save others.
But now, I’m having second thoughts.
I am willing to risk my life so that vulnerable populations across the globe can be protected, but not to make pharma shareholders rich or to produce a vaccine only available to US citizens. The US decision to not join Covax, a multilateral effort to ensure that the vaccine is fairly distributed worldwide, places corporate greed and vaccine nationalism over the needs of people.
I cannot speak for other volunteers, but I suspect they might feel the same: I would refuse to participate in a human challenge trial if the eventual vaccine wasn’t made available to everyone, everywhere. And because vaccines are impossible without potential trial participants, we can demand a better vaccine process for everyone, not just for Covid-19, but for the future. We can refuse to risk our health unless a vaccine is accessible to everyone.
As it stands, Covax is deeply flawed. The plan currently provides universal vaccine access only to wealthy countries, lines the pockets of pharma executives, and dictates terms to poorer nations while falling short of providing the number of vaccines they need. Despite this, it is clear that we need international cooperation to prevent nationalism from raising the cost of a vaccine for everyone. Covax may be a flawed solution, but Trump’s go-it-alone approach will isolate the United States and jeopardize the health of billions.
The antiviral medication remdesivir provides a terrifying preview of what could be in store if the US continues along the path of vaccine nationalism. In May, the FDA approved remdesivir to help treat severe cases of Covid. Around the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services used emergency powers to ensure that the US gained control over almost the entire global supply. Gilead, a pharmaceutical corporation, started charging $2,340 for a typical course of remdesivr even though they could charge $1 a day and still make a profit.
Similarly, in the past, western countries and drug companies have used patent laws to restrict access to life-saving generic HIV medications, resulting in over 10m preventable deaths in the global south. Withholding access to life-saving medications could accurately be described as a form of genocide. We need to make sure Covid vaccines are not withheld in a similar manner.
When asked who owned the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk famously replied: “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”
A similar spirit should animate the future of global vaccine development. No nation or corporation should be holding the rest of us hostage. If we insist on our values of access and equity for everyone, vaccine volunteers can collectively bargain for a better future. We want to see genuine commitments to equity. The US must collaborate in good faith with other countries and embrace the UNAid and Oxfam’s call for a People’s Vaccine, which demands that “all vaccines, treatments and tests be patent-free, mass produced, distributed fairly and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge”.
Thomas Gokey is a co-founder of Debt Collective