Nigeria has the greatest number of people in the world living in absolute poverty but Nigerians with cash can get the finest things in the world very fast. Not only are they said to fly in pizza from London, they openly enjoy pre-emptive access to public services. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Nigerian super-rich have found a way to fly in the vaccine against the dreaded virus that has so far claimed 1.7 million lives in roughly one year.”
Nigeria has the greatest number of people in the world living in absolute poverty but Nigerians with cash can get the finest things in the world very fast. Not only are they said to fly in pizza from London, they openly enjoy pre-emptive access to public services. In a country with prevalent crime (armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, etc), half of the 150,000 strong police force provides personalised security for the rich in their homes and cars. Even if the vaccine for the new coronavirus costs $10,000 per shot, it would find a legion of ready buyers in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Nigerian super-rich have found a way to fly in the vaccine against the dreaded virus that has so far claimed 1.7 million lives in roughly one year. Gavi COVAX alliance, an initiative to deliver vaccines to poor countries will send 20 million doses to Nigeria in April 2021. Would Nigeria’s super-rich have to suffer the indignity of waiting to be served along with their 190 something million compatriots especially for a life-protecting vaccine that costs around $10 per shot?
Like the new coronavirus itself, which has afflicted the rich and the poor, the vaccine against it is a leveller. The vaccine is (for now) available only as a “public goods” and is being distributed according to government (and medical) perception of vulnerability to Covid-19 infection and death rather than purchasing power. Hence, doctors, nurses, cleaners, etc. who face the risk of infection because they work in hospitals and old people who are more likely to die from a coronavirus infection are receiving the vaccine ahead of billionaires in London, New York, Osaka, etc.
This underscores the importance of morality even in the most advanced free-market economies and the critical role of governments in providing public goods. Early on in the pandemic, it was clear that it would be unacceptable to supply a vaccine based on the ability to pay as this would mean avoiding infection and potential death is down to how much money one has. The pharmaceutical firms were also committed to not exploiting the new coronavirus pandemic (crisis) to make massive profits.
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United States pharma giant Johnson and Johnson and Britain’s AstraZeneca have pledged to sell their vaccines at a price that just covers their cost of production. Astra’s jab is currently the cheapest at $3 to $4 per dose and it has said prices will remain low for the “duration of the pandemic”.
Government financial intervention speeded up the race to get the vaccine. So far, they have poured $8.8 billion into Covid vaccine development, according to data from Airfinity, while not-for-profit organisations like Gates Foundation have provided nearly $2 billion. It’s a perfect blend of public and private sector collaboration with the “third sector” in the middle.
Vaccine makers are charging different amounts in different countries based on what governments can afford. They have also made a commitment to sell only to governments (not to individuals, companies, or hospitals), most of which moved quickly to sign forward purchase agreements.
The U.S. government has deals in place to make at least 400 million coronavirus vaccine doses available in the country by the end of Q2 2021. Negotiations are also ongoing for other shots from Johnson & Johnson, Novavax, and AstraZeneca, which are in late-stage testing. The UK has secured access to 340 million doses from four separate pharmaceutical forms and the European Union more than 2 billion doses.
The production and distribution of vaccine is working like a public drug scheme which keeps prices low given governments’ financial might and bargaining power. The vaccine would have cost higher if the funds to develop it were raised without government support, and would also have been developed at a slower pace.
Public health officials in the UK have said that none of the government-procured jabs will be sold to private clinics and America’s Pfizer revealed it does not intend to supply the jab to the private sector “for the foreseeable future”. That means wealthy Nigerians cannot run to both Western countries, as they do for “banking” and healthcare services, to get the coronavirus shots.
Also Read: African Countries Move to Order Coronavirus Vaccines
It appeared the only way to get vaccinated on the private market was in India after the country’s Serum Institute, one of the largest makers of vaccines globally, said it planned to make the jab developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford available on the private market (for $8). India, being a massive and still poor country with sometimes weak government capacity, will face challenges in vaccinating its 1.4 billion people, hence has no incentive to oppose private sector provision.
Serum has a licence to produce the vaccine and had manufactured 50 million doses as of the last week of December. The world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume had invested in manufacturing the vaccines before government approval with some funding from the Bill Gates Foundation, ensuring it wouldn’t take the full financial loss if the vaccine failed to get approval.
It was expanding production capacity every week, aiming to produce 3.2 billion doses and start exporting after obtaining the World Health Organisation’s approval. The Serum’s vaccine also got approval from the Drug Controller General of India early January.
According to the company’s plan, the jab would be sold to the Indian government at $3 (partly a reflection of the big quantity the government is buying) but would be available for $8 (about ₦4,000) on a private basis. Rich Nigerians would need to add $12,897 (around ₦5 million), the cost of a first-class flight on Emirates to the cost.
However, an Associated Press report this week revealed that India will not allow the export of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for several months. The vaccine was granted emergency authorisation by the Indian regulator but on the condition that Serum Institute doesn’t export the shots to ensure that vulnerable populations in India are protected, Adar Poonawalla, the company’s CEO, told AP.
It may not be so fast this time, but a foreign country is intervening once again to provide a life-saving service to rich Nigerians. Putting at their disposal a service that the country’s endemic misgovernance has put beyond the reach of millions of their compatriots.
