The US has 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines; ethicists say it should share

The US has 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines; ethicists say it should share

 

While case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths continue their downward trend in the United States, the global picture is much more grim. According to the World Health Organization, there have been more Covid-19 cases across the world in the past two weeks than in the first six months of the pandemic.    What I see and hear in the reporting from my colleagues on the ground in India breaks my heart. I hear the fear from my family and friends who live in India, which is breaking global records with more than 300,000 Covid-19 cases added every day.    The US has bought or contracted to buy more than 1 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines. That's enough to vaccinate the US population at least twice, with plenty left over. And last week, the United States committed to sharing 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries. The vaccine isn’t authorized in the United States.    Arthur Caplan, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine, says the US is "ethically obligated" to share vaccines, pointing to the "horrific death toll and hospitalization tsunami that's taking place in many countries."   "Morally," Caplan said, "we have to help."   But, it’s just a drop in the bucket. The Indian government has purchased at least 205.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, according to data from the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, placing India in the top 10 vaccine buyers in the world. But those shots would only cover 8% of its 1.4 billion-person population.   It’s also not just a matter of ethics. Helping other countries also helps us, and the rest of the world. "If you don't get these hotspots under control outside the US, they're going to come back, likely with new, dangerous strains that may undermine our vaccines," Caplan said. "It's both prudent to do it and ethical to do it."