AUTHOR=Manriquez Roa Tania , Holzer Felicitas , Luna Florencia , Biller-Andorno Nikola 

TITLE=Expert Views on COVAX and Equitable Global Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=66

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2021.1604236

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2021.1604236

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives:</bold> We face the impossibility of having enough COVID-19 vaccines for everyone in the near future. This study aims to contribute to the debate on equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, tackling key ethical discussions and policy challenges regarding early phases of COVAX, the global cooperation mechanism for supporting fair vaccine allocation.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We conducted in-depth interviews with twelve experts and a literature research on academic articles, media sources and public statements. We built a data analysis matrix and conducted a thematic analysis.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Our findings show, first, that interviewed experts who hold different views on vaccine allocation, including moderate nationalist perspectives, agree on joining a global cooperation mechanism. Second, incentives to join COVAX vary greatly among countries. Third, specific barriers to COVAX emerged in the early implementation phase. And fourth, countries might be trapped in a zero-sum game regarding the global vaccine supply.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> We present findings that enrich analyses of early phases of COVAX (April 2020–21), we introduce three ethical discussions that provide a common ground for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, and we highlight policy challenges.</p>