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On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that China will be contributing 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines under the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) Facility.

The COVAX Facility has endeavored towards removing roadblocks for developing countries through accessibility and affordability from the outset. But vaccine nationalism prevents indiscriminate, unconditional support to nations ranging from poverty-stricken countries to developing ones facing infrastructure quagmires. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had earlier equated vaccine nationalism with catastrophic moral failures on part of the international community. The toxic instinct to shed responsibility to humanity at large by depriving other population's chance to get inoculated leads to moral failures and prevents the fight against the pandemic.

Protectionist tendencies grounded in nationalism also belittle the role of multilateral initiatives such as COVAX in fighting against the virus and enables populist leaders to peddle conspiracy theories bordering on denial. Ironically, they are often imperiling the very same domestic populations they appeal towards. Remember the Trump administration? The "Make America Great Again" slogan hasn't led to effective pandemic management, and only failed to prevent the deaths of close to 450,000 Americans.

Bridging the divide of the haves and have-nots across the world over vaccination can only be achieved by insulating the process from politics, conflicting narratives or unnecessary squabbling that result in procurement delays. And hyper-nationalism has diminished the sense of moral responsibilities in the international community.

The absence of a unified global leadership on vaccination and the resistance towards it have allowed COVID-19's pernicious effects continue to be felt from Europe to Africa. It is estimated that 2.24 million have died from the virus so far. The pressing challenges posed by newer variants and mutations of the virus, squabbling between countries and vaccine companies, chronic unemployment and crippled economies mean that inoculation is the key in mitigating casualties and keeping the variegated mutations or further spread at bay. The cure lies in collective, concerted and targeted efforts by the international community divorced from trivial matters and hyper nationalist tendencies. It is irrefutable that developing nations require unfettered, unconditional and indiscriminate access to vaccines.

Multilateral institutions like COVAX are trying to fill the vacuum, and it needs all the help it can get. Many Western countries have long accused China of not living up to the "responsible stakeholder" expectation. But no country can be spared of the pandemic's effect if it only protects its own citizens. And its own citizens won't be well-guarded against the virus if it rages on in other parts of the world and shuts down their economy. Globalization has ensured that what happens in one country could have ripple effects across the world. China's contribution to the institution fulfills its responsibility as a major country in the world in far greater capacity than those who have refused to make their share of vaccine contributions.

The global fight against COVID-19 through inoculation drives must take place in the absence of toxic nationalism, far right ideologies and multilateral skepticism. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen stated on Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines from Russia and China could be approved for EU' use if all the data are shown, taking a pragmatic view towards vaccines rather than hindering on political biases that some countries are taking.

The trend of politicizing vaccines and nationalism need to be replaced with strategic foresight and moral understandings of the issue at hand. Equitable distribution of vaccines cannot take place amid conspiracy theories or the belittlement of the greater global cause. The pandemic affects everyone, and it is our responsibility to contribute to this global fight.

Scriptwriter: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain

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