Australia is set to introduce Covid-19 vaccines later this month, with the aim of vaccinating as many Australians as soon as possible. This is not the strategy that the world needs now.
Eliminate our most vulnerable citizens, health workers and hotel quarantine workers immediately – no question about that.
For the rest of us? We can wait.
Although we have been inconvenient and, in many cases, financially and personally hurt by restrictions on what we can do, where we can go, locks and even closures limits, we must commend our success to date in limiting the release of Covid-19 in this country and accepting continuing reasonable restrictions for the sake of good.
There are clear ethical and practical reasons for this approach. Most healthy and fit Australians can wait but the rest of the world is still suffering from this unstable virus. Countries participating in Covid-19 should have access to the vaccines available for the most at-risk citizens.
There are few vaccine production factories worldwide. After the most endangered Australians have been vaccinated by the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, we should hand over much of the AstraZeneca vaccine we are now making in Melbourne. to countries that need it more than us – such as sales or foreign aid.
If rich countries like Australia do not give out any of the vaccines that they make, poor countries will not get much at all for a long time. Australia has pledged financial and other support to countries in the Minch and Southeast Asia, including the supply of vaccines in addition to our needs. This is a good start but Australia is envious of its treatment of pandemics and they can do more. Much more.
Australia has received contracts of enough coronavirus vaccines to protect the entire Australian population not once, not twice, but three times. That is the kind of circulation problem among rich countries that the World Health Organization has warned us about.
Norway and several other countries have pledged to provide many of the vaccines they have received. Australia has a special responsibility here, with the potential to deliver a million doses of the highly portable AstraZeneca vaccine each week.
Finally we give the vaccine to everyone in Australia – we can just let the endangered people in poor countries get ahead of our healthy 30-year-olds here, as long as we can to control the virus. We can vaccinate more Australians, even without much warning, if the country is hit by another Covid-19 wave.
Our strategy for short-term short-term distribution in Australia would still significantly reduce the chances of another serious revolution here, and reduce the worst effects of one, even if much more spread would occur.
Australia has been very effective in controlling the spread of the virus, while still allowing us to continue our high quality of life. In contrast, the virus is so prevalent in many other countries that death rates and life-threatening disorders are very high.
Some might argue that although Australia suffers far less than other countries, there are still significant personal and financial costs to keeping our international borders closed. While this is true, it is less relevant to the vaccine debate.
Even if we could vaccinate all Australians in the coming months, this would not allow us to open our borders anytime soon, at least. Apparently, new entrants had to go into quarantine for two weeks. The ability to reopen our borders in the medium and long term depends on the success of the global vaccination project.
To keep these vaccines to ourselves when the benefits to so many people are relatively small, even though thousands die in other countries every day would be ethical.
Let us protect those most at risk here with vaccines and continue our successful measures to stop the release of Covid-19. But let us also do what we can to help the rest of the world fight this virus.
• Dr Ben Bramble, from the school of philosophy at the Australian National University will study diffuse ethics; Dr. Peter Collignon is an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist and professor at ANU medical school