– That Norway has had to throw away so many vaccines is very illustrative of a system that has worked very poorly, says Erlend Grønningen, doctor and field worker for Doctors Without Borders.
TV 2 has requested access from all 356 municipalities in Norway in the number of vaccine doses that have been discontinued during 2021.
In total, more than 126,600 vaccine doses have been discarded in Norway during 2021. The most common causes are expiration date, particles in vials, lack of attendance, broken vials and AstraZeneca scrapping.
At the same time, large parts of the world community are still without a vaccine. This is a betrayal, Grønningen believes.
– Through the pandemic, vaccines have been in short supply. Norway should refrain from buying so many doses, and follow the clear call to the WHO and the UN that the vaccine should first be given priority to risk groups and health personnel.
– The world community, and Norway, has completely failed when it comes to making the vaccine a common good, says Grønningen.
In the world low-income countries are vaccine coverage 5.5 percent, while in high-income countries have 72 percent received at least two doses.
– What could Norway have done differently?
– Norway has bought more vaccines than we really need. It is not the case that these vaccines are in a warehouse where there is more than enough for everyone. The vaccines we buy, we take from some other countries that do not get.
– MAJOR CONSEQUENCES: Grønningen believes that the unequal distribution of vaccines can have major future consequences for the West as well. Photo:: Kate Stegeman / MSF
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In September 2021, the analysis agency did Airfinity an analysis that rich countries will have an estimated 1.2 billion surplus doses of covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. The same rich countries were also estimated to have to discard a total of one hundred million doses before Christmas.
TV 2 does not have updated figures on surplus doses worldwide.
Calls for exemption from patent rule
Grønningen adds that there are both legal and logistical challenges to sending vaccines from one country to another. The vaccines Norway has already purchased can thus not only be awarded to another country afterwards.
– We said early in the pandemic that there should be an exception for patents on this vaccine. We know that we have both medicine and vaccine manufacturers who are able to produce vaccines, but who have not been allowed to.
– Norway is one of the few countries that has opposed the proposal for an exception to this patent rule, says Grønningen.
Facts: Patents on medicines
- Patents have the exclusive right to exploit an invention, or a vaccine recipe in this context.
- If a patent is obtained for a medicine or a vaccine, this is society’s “reward” for the effort.
- Patents are granted following an application process in the country for which the application has been made, and are intended to promote technological development.
- In connection with the corona pandemic, South Africa and India have requested an exemption from the so-called TRIPS agreement, which, among other things, ensures patent protection for medicines and vaccines.
- This patent protection means that the pharmaceutical companies have a monopoly over the product.
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Would not share vaccine recipe
In the autumn of 2020, South Africa and India launched a proposal as a so-called “waiver”, so that patents would not prevent access to vaccines and other medical equipment in the fight against corona.
This would allow low- and middle-income countries to produce vaccines and other health products needed to prevent covid-19, regardless of rights.
The proposal has been supported by over 100 countries, but because decisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are made by consensus, there is still no agreement.
A few countries, including Norway, have not wanted to support the proposal. But at the end of November, the government turned around.
– State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eivin Vad Petersson. Photo: Sturlason / Government
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– In November, the new government adjusted Norway’s position in the WTO negotiations. Norway’s position now is that an exemption for patents on vaccines is a good starting point for reaching a compromise, says State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eivin Vad Petersson.
In an email to TV 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes that the so-called “waiver proposal” is too far-reaching and will not be able to be adopted as it is now proposed.
– We believe there is a greater chance of finding agreement in the WTO on a less comprehensive version. We have long encouraged those who are furthest apart to move towards a possible compromise.
– Works along several tracks
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs adds that Norway is co-leader of the most important international cooperation on covid-19, together with South Africa. Norway has contributed NOK 6.5 billion to this project, of which NOK 2 billion after the change of government last autumn.
– Safe vaccines are the most important measure against the pandemic. The government is actively working along several tracks to ensure sufficient and equal access to covid vaccines also outside the WTO.
Norway also shares vaccine doses through the Covax vaccine collaboration.
– Will avoid putting us back where we were
The skewed distribution of vaccines globally can also have major consequences for the western world, several experts have pointed out.
Professor and head of the Pandemic Center, Esperanza Diaz, believes it is naive to believe that the pandemic will be stopped in Norway when large parts of the world are still without a vaccine.
– We know that it is impossible to limit the pandemic to geographical areas. Right now we have a virus variant (omicron) that is less dangerous, but as long as large parts of Africa are not protected, the probability is higher that new, more serious variants can occur, says Diaz.
– Vaccination of everyone will avoid putting us back where we were. This is a common pandemic, she concludes.
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