“We can’t [vaccinate the region] on our own. We are interdependent on one another to ensure that we can supply the components of the vaccine or the essential goods to support that vaccine supply chain,” said Damien O’Connor, New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth, at the event press conference. The interdependency developed between Apec economies, he says, is desperately needed for vaccines and medical supply equipment to speed up recovery. Apec, O’Connor vows, will support all necessary measures to ensure that everyone worldwide can access a vaccine.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a war on two fronts, with governments around the world struggling to control both viral spread and the economic fallout of the crisis. While the resumption of global trade will prove to be a key pillar of post-pandemic recovery, it is also crucial to the smooth transfer of vaccines around the world. Never has global trade — demonised by populists before the pandemic — been so essential to human survival.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in New Zealand on June 4-5, participants acknowledged the role of trade and investment in promoting widespread and equitable access to Covid-19 immunisation. Declaring such immunisation a global public good, they announced measures to ensure the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines, medical supplies and related goods.
