5 legal questions on vaccine distribution

Katrina Perehudoff | Credits: Aäron Blomme - Fair distribution of vaccines around the world, saving lives and money. It sounds like utopia, but is it? Katrina Perehudoff works at the Law Centre for Health and Life at the University of Amsterdam and answers five pressing questions about vaccine distribution. How does the distribution of vaccines work at this moment? . 'Developing and producing Covid-19 vaccines has largely been left to private companies. Although governments have subsidized some of this vaccine R&D, there seems to be few (if any) requirements for how companies are to price and distribute the end product. This means that vaccines are bought and sold on the global market according to international trade law and the forces of supply and demand. For example, in the face of scarcity, it is possible that buyers placing larger orders or paying higher prices get priority access to vaccine supplies. Under these conditions, vaccine apartheid can take root (where wealthy buyers stand at the front of the distribution line and poorer governments lack sufficient supplies), unless we craft ways to cooperate in solidarity. This is where our research at the Law Centre for Health and Life comes in. We explore new ways of harnessing the power of law, regulation, and solidarity to create the incentives and shape markets that are needed for equitable medicines development and distribution.' - 2 Are there (international) rules for distributing essential goods, such as vaccines?