Desigualdad en el acceso a las vacunas: el fracaso de la respuesta mundial a la pandemia de COVID-19

https://doi.org/10.18294/sc.2022.4190

Publicado 1 octubre 2022 Open Access


Antonio Ugalde Profesor emérito, Department of Sociology, University of Texas-Austin, EEUU. Presidente, Salud y Fármacos, El Paso, Texas, EEUU image/svg+xml , Fernando Hellmann Departmento de Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil. Profesor visitante, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal, Canadá image/svg+xml , Núria Homedes Profesora adjunta, Georgetown University. Directora ejecutiva, Salud y Fármacos, El Paso, Texas, EEUU. image/svg+xml



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Palabras clave:

Vacunas, COVID-19, Salud Global, Atención a la Salud

Resumen


Este artículo resume las estrategias que se han utilizado para desarrollar rápidamente las vacunas COVID-19 y distribuirlas a nivel mundial. Se centra en las vacunas desarrolladas en los países occidentales. Con base en entrevistas y recopilación de información existente sobre la respuesta a la pandemia, tanto de agencias internacionales como de documentos oficiales de Brasil, Argentina, Colombia, Perú y México se reconoce que, si bien el desarrollo de las vacunas ha sido un éxito, su distribución a nivel mundial ha sido muy desigual. Como veremos, la pandemia consiguió movilizar una gran cantidad de recursos gubernamentales y los ciudadanos prestaron sus cuerpos para que los ensayos clínicos se pudieran concluir rápidamente. Sin embargo, las patentes impidieron la expansión de la capacidad de fabricación y los gobiernos de unos pocos países ricos priorizaron la protección y, en algunos casos, la sobreprotección de sus ciudadanos a expensas de la protección del resto de la población mundial. Entre los principales beneficiarios de la respuesta mundial a la pandemia se encuentran las principales empresas de vacunas, sus ejecutivos e inversores. El artículo concluye con algunas de las lecciones aprendidas en este proceso.


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