Rachel Martin is the host.
Don't allow a crisis to get out of hand. A group of scientists from middle-income countries talk about that. The COVID Pandemic proved that wealthy countries can't be counted on to share new vaccines, so they have come up with a game changing plan. Nurith Aizenman caught up with them at an auditorium.
Thank you very much, Fernando Lobos. I have a name, my name is...
The room is filled with some of the most important players in the world of vaccine research. There are experts from Latin America who are introducing themselves.
In Argentina, Lobos.
Aizenman came from Africa.
Caryn Fenner is here. I have a name.
Specifically, South Africa, that's what I'm talking about.
We traveled around the world in two days.
The United States and Europe are not the only countries that have dominated the invention of new vaccines. The Global South effort is a coming together of middle-income nations that are determined to help each other create new vaccines and make them on their own terms.
There is an application for this.
I would like to thank you very much, sir.
A major rethink of strategy that was pushed through by the man who is now taking the mic is the reason why this is possible.
It's wonderful to have you here.
There is a director at the premiere public agency for vaccine development and manufacturing. The Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz Foundation is where this gathering is taking place. Before the Pandemic, the team trying to create an original vaccine was often defeated by the pharmaceutical companies in rich countries.
When there is a specific need for a vaccine, our time to develop is more delayed than the big pharmas.
Middle-income countries like his don't have the same funding as other places. Brazil wants to give new vaccines to their citizens as soon as possible. It was the upshot.
We are often obliged to interrupt our own development and accept a vaccine that is ready if there is an emergency.
A technology transfer is the act of transferring technology. The middle-income country takes a vaccine invented in a wealthy country, learns how to make it, and then pumps out its own supply. Brazil has excelled at this. It still needs the permission of the vaccine's inventor.
You will always have access to what the other people want to give you, at the price they want to give you.
You will always be dependent, that's for sure. It looked like the old pattern was going to repeat itself. Some of the scientists were working on the technology. They came up with the idea of creating a vaccine against COVID. He was told to stop trying to get the funding.
People were pessimists. You'll never leave, and we'll do a technology transfer anyway.
The skeptics were correct on that last point. Brazil reached a technology transfer deal with Oxford/AstraZeneca, which is based in Europe. Brazil made a lot of the vaccine in a few months.
The majority of the Brazilian population werevaccinated.
Even if it was going to take them years longer than Moderna and Pfizer to complete it, they still shouldn't give up on the idea of inventing Brazil's own vaccine.
You won't change if you don't bother. The mercy of Big pharmas will always be on you. This was the moment when you need to have a moment where you change.
It helped that the vaccine is useful against other diseases. This technology could be used to fight a lot of diseases. It's in other words.
It was possible to guarantee a better future because of the effort that was not stopped.
Moderna and Pfizer were the only two companies that had an mRNA vaccine. They sold it to rich countries because of the limited supply. Both companies refused to do a tech transfer when Brazil asked them to. He smiles when he says it.
It was a great moment. We were given the push to keep going so we could have our own independence.
The World Health Organization and some partners launched an audacious plan of their own after Moderna and Pfizer refused to share their know-how. They chose a team from Brazil and a team from Argentina to act as hubs that will teach manufacturers from low- and middle-income countries how to make vaccines against COVID.
This meeting is about that. The leader of Brazil's team came to the podium to propose a coffee break.
The idea right now is to exchange information.
Caryn Fenner is the head of South Africa's effort.
I think it's a holdup.
A woman is talking to an Argentine about lab equipment.
If you can, I would recommend you to get a benchtop system.
A person says yes. You can scale out.
FENNER: That's correct.
Fenner, who is with the company, says there are a lot of issues that need to be worked out.
In terms of the platform, trading of ideas is important. It is not a blanket thing when it comes to vaccines.
The network of Global South scientists they are building is just as important. Fenner said they've been trying to do this for a long time.
FENNER: You use a crisis to get something done. We've used it as a starting point.
As she surveyed the room, Brazil'sPatricia Neves agreed. The scientists from the Global South are working together.
The most exciting thing for me is that we are not dependent on other people to do this.
She said we're making history.
Nurith Aizenman is a reporter for NPR.
There is aOUNDBITE OF EDAPOLLO's "WILDFLOWER".
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