The fifth wave of COVID-19 will have shown the importance of providing rapid access to vaccines to the entire world population. In this matter, we are very far from the mark… In this recent French documentary, we learn (if we did not already know it) that only 1% of the population of the African continent was entitled to a dose (or more) of vaccine. This deficit is, among other things, the result of the “vaccination selfishness” of the great powers, first and foremost that of the United States of Donald Trump.
This protectionism has indeed enabled other countries to take advantage of the vaccine race to extend their area of influence. The documentary offers a partial portrait of these negotiations through a few very telling examples of very self-interested vaccine “solidarity”… It presents the cases of San Marino, which had to turn to the Russian “Sputnik V”, failing to obtain aid from the European Union, and that of Serbia, which called on a friendly nation (and already very well established in its economy), China, for help.
A host of decision-makers and observers from the European Union, the United States and Russia highlight and contextualize the areas of influence that are emerging through this new pandemic diplomatic deal. All of these testimonies (sometimes a little too “official”) and the conclusion on the failures and shortcomings of the COVAX program, which should make it possible to vaccinate the poorest and most vulnerable populations, leave the impression that, basically, nothing has really changed on the global political spectrum.
To see in video