On January 31, GSL Director Steven Hoffman was quoted in a CBC News article discussing the emergence of vaccine nationalism – where countries prioritize their own vaccine needs – and Canada’s lacking capacity to manufacture its own COVID-19 vaccines.
In the article, Hoffman said he was not surprised about the emergence of vaccine nationalism and cited it as only the latest example of export controls being used in a way that is not helpful for solving the global dimensions of the pandemic, comparing it to then-president Donald Trumps efforts to block 3M N95 mask shipments to Canada. He further argued that the distribution of vaccines and other life-saving goods has to be agreed upon before a crisis strikes. Once there is a pandemic it is too late.
On the question of why Canada doesn’t have the capacity to produce its vaccines, he answered there isn’t enough incentive for any country to build manufacturing capacity that wouldn’t be used in a non-pandemic scenario. “Maybe the question is why would Canadians expect there to be large-scale vaccine manufacturing in our country when nearly every country doesn’t have it?” he said.
Read the full article here.
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