Pandemic Lessons: Globalisation, Nationalism, Governance
COVID-19 showed our global links, fueled vaccine nationalism, and tested governance models worldwide.
Topics: politics, science, individual and values
Example
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists shared virus data quickly, but wealthy countries such as the US and UK pre-ordered large shares of the first vaccines. On 17 February 2021, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that just 10 countries had given 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations, while 130 countries had not received a single dose. The global sharing scheme COVAX missed its goal of 2 billion doses in 2021, but by the time it closed at the end of 2023 it had delivered nearly 2 billion doses to 146 economies.
Key facts
- In February 2021 the UN Secretary-General said 10 countries had given 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations, while 130 countries had none.
Limitations
- The 75% figure is a snapshot from February 2021, when supplies were scarcest; vaccine access evened out somewhat later, so it describes the early rollout, not the whole pandemic.
Evaluations
politics evaluation
Support
Governments answer to their own voters, so buying vaccines for citizens first was politically rational, and that is exactly why vaccine nationalism happened.
Counterargument
The UN warned that leaving poor countries unvaccinated let new variants emerge, which then spread back to rich countries, so narrow self-interest was self-defeating.
Rebuttal
The case shows that national and global interests overlap in a pandemic, but institutions like COVAX lacked the money and power to act on that overlap in time.
Additional support
In 2025 WHO members adopted a Pandemic Agreement intended to share vaccines more fairly next time, a direct lesson from this failure.
science evaluation
Support
Chinese scientists published the virus's genetic sequence in January 2020, letting labs worldwide start vaccine design within days, a high point of scientific cooperation.
Counterargument
Science moved fast, but manufacturing and patents stayed concentrated in a few countries, so knowledge did not translate into fair access.
Rebuttal
Speed of discovery and fairness of distribution are separate problems; solving one does not solve the other, which is the key lesson.
Additional support
COVAX eventually delivered nearly 2 billion doses, showing shared purchasing can work once supply catches up.
individual and values evaluation
Support
The figure that 130 countries had no doses while 10 had given 75% raises a moral question: whether a low-risk person in a rich country should be vaccinated before a nurse in a poor one.
Counterargument
Citizens reasonably expect their government to protect them first, and many would not accept giving away doses during a deadly wave at home.
Rebuttal
Fair allocation by risk, such as health workers and the elderly everywhere first, could have saved more lives globally without abandoning citizens.
Additional support
Some donors gave surplus doses that were close to expiry, which poor countries then struggled to use, showing that generosity also needs to be practical.
Sources
- Al Jazeera (2021-02-17): 'Wildly unfair': UN boss says 10 nations used 75% of all vaccines
- Medical Laboratory Observer (2023-12-18): COVID-19 vaccinations shift to regular immunization as COVAX draws to a close
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