vaccine nationalism

The pandemic has turned up some surprising concepts requiring to be named. Vaccine nationalism is the preferencing of one’s own nation for the supply of a vaccine, regardless of the effect on the rest of the world.  If we thought the panic buying of toilet paper was remarkable, it will be as nothing compared to the scramble for possession of a vaccine.  Already Russia and China have claimed to have one and there are ‘encouraging signs’ with some companies and organisations who are working on one.  In some instances the vaccine will come at a cost and market prices and profits are being guesstimated. In other cases the government will buy the vaccine and distribute it free. But the notion of thinking globally about vaccine distribution and delivering it to global hotspots and frontline medical workers first seems to be a pipedream. There will be the same shenanigans that occurred with the grab that nations made for PPE.