Photo/Illutration A nurse administers the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Guy's Hospital in London on Dec. 8. (AP Photo/ Pool)

The ray of light illuminating the COVID-19 darkness by the arrival of a vaccine should lift the hopes of all people around the world.

More than 68 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed across the globe, with more than 1.5 million deaths recorded to date.

Amid this devastating pandemic, Britain has rolled out a mass vaccination program.

It involves the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved after a large-scale clinical trial. The United States is also set to start shortly distributing the first coronavirus vaccinations.

Japan will also receive more than 100 million doses of the vaccine, jointly developed by U.S. major pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech SE. Drugmakers all over the world are now racing to develop vaccines against the infectious disease.

Since the vaccine has been approved through an unusually swift process, there are skeptics voicing doubts over its effectiveness and safety.

Still, there is a lot of hope that the vaccine will serve as a powerful weapon to finally bring the pandemic to its knees.

But there are also legitimate concerns that industrial nations with money and technology may monopolize the vaccines initially available, leaving people in poor nations in limbo.

In addition to securing the funds to buy sufficient doses of vaccines, there are tough challenges involved in distributing them widely, including the need to transport doses at an extremely low temperature.

At a special U.N. General Assembly session on the pandemic in early December, the leaders of many developing countries stressed the need to ensure that vaccinations will be available to all nations at affordable prices.

Industrial nations should respond to their calls and work together to provide countries worldwide with equitable access to vaccines. As U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly asserted, it is necessary to make COVID-19 vaccines “a global public good.”

The pandemic has badly damaged developed economies as well, leaving these countries struggling with huge financial burdens of funding measures to cope with the crisis.

Needless to say, the governments of all nations are responsible for protecting the lives and health of the people. But leaders should also remember the fact that infectious diseases know no borders.

The human race has succeeded in eradicating smallpox and come close to stamping out polio as well because of joint efforts by industrial and developing nations.

The World Health Organization has created COVAX Facility, a global initiative that brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines. Over 180 countries including Japan have agreed to contribute funds to the development of vaccines under the program for distribution to developing nations as well as those that have provided financing.

But only 700 million doses have been secured so far for the 4 billion people living in low- and middle-income countries.

In contrast, rich developed nations, mainly the United States and European nations, have already secured 3.8 billion doses, according to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The university warns that vaccines will not become widely available in developing nations until 2024.

COVAX’s ability to achieve its goal has been hobbled by the refusal of the United States and Russia to join the program. It is distressing to see these leading powers preoccupied with self-interest in an attitude described as “vaccine nationalism.”

For many years, Japan has been providing strong support for developing countries’ efforts in the areas of health and hygiene.

With the new U.S. administration set to be inaugurated early next year, Japan should work with Europe to step up international efforts to convince both Washington and Moscow of the vital importance of international cooperation in the battle against the virus.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 10

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