Should we give vaccines to India?

Last spring, scenes in Lombardy, Italy, caused panic in Whitehall: buckling healthcare systems and tents pitched outside emergency centres played a large role in the government’s decision to implement a nationwide lockdown. It was thought that the British public could tolerate many of the consequences of Covid-19, but not the idea that the NHS would be unable to cater to those who needed it. 

As it happened, the UK’s worst nightmares were never realised. The Nightingale hospitals built to increase capacity were barely used. But what the British government feared most is now taking place elsewhere. India is suffering an exponential growth in infections, with more than 349,000 cases reported yesterday, as well as nearly 3,000 deaths. Hospitals are running out of oxygen for patients and wards are overflowing. There are reports of long queues as the sick wait to be seen by medical professionals. It’s expected the situation will deteriorate further before it gets better.

Some countries have responded to India’s cry for help, including the UK, the United States, and France. The UK is sending 600 medical devices, including ventilators, while the US is easing its export bans to allow more raw material for vaccine production to be shipped overseas. But there’s an elephant in the room, a resource that has not yet been deployed to India: vaccines themselves, to aid India in inoculating its most vulnerable and older residents.

In terms of lives potentially saved by these vaccines, there is a strong ethical argument for shipping some of the UK’s supply overseas. All of the UK’s top nine priority groups have been offered their first vaccine now, giving ample protection to the groups that make up 99 per cent of deaths from the virus.