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Oxford, AstraZeneca Covid-19 deal reinforces 'vaccine sovereignty' - STAT

Oxford, AstraZeneca Covid-19 deal reinforces 'vaccine sovereignty' - STAT

Oxford, AstraZeneca Covid-19 deal reinforces 'vaccine sovereignty' - STAT
Jun 04, 2020 1 min, 40 secs

These invocations of sovereign power reflect a form of American and British exceptionalism that are echoed in the University of Oxford’s exclusive deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by the university.

The deal prioritizes British and American access to the vaccine following significant financial investments by both governments.

This form of sovereignty symbolizes the vaccine as an instrument of power deployed to exercise control over life and death.

While vaccine sovereignty is centered on how access to vaccines is shaped through wealth and power, it is also about recognizing those who are the subject of that power — those who must die.

The university’s collaboration with pharma also raises concerns about the price of the potential vaccine, which was developed with public funding.

Consequently, the call for a “people’s vaccine” signed by a range of global leaders and supported by the Open Society Foundations, which I work for, serves as a form of counter-power to the vaccine sovereignty evident in the Oxford-AstraZeneca deal.

A people’s vaccine seeks to ensure mandatory worldwide sharing of all Covid-19-related knowledge, establish a global and equitable rapid manufacturing and distribution plan fully-funded by wealthy nations, and guarantees that Covid-19 tests, diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines are provided free to everyone, everywhere.

(Both the campaign and UAEM are supported by the Open Society Foundations.) In addition to being about ensuring access to a Covid-19 vaccine, these initiatives also seek to dismantle the biomedical system upon which the Oxford-AstraZeneca deal was built.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a new vocabulary for talking about access and affordability related to vaccines.

reinforces vaccine sovereignty, countries in the global South are committed to the idea of a people’s vaccine.

In a moment where the university — as the epicenter of knowledge production — should be playing a leading role in advancing the idea of a people’s vaccine, Oxford is instead contributing to a culture of vaccine sovereignty in which wealthy countries like England and the U.S.

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

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