DISUNITY IN TIMES OF CRISIS: COVID-19, GEOPOLITICS AND VACCINE NATIONALISM

Geopolitics and vaccine nationalism have been seen as barriers in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic globally. Rich Western nations have nationalized vaccine production and distribution, while vaccines produced by Russia and China have been criticized in the West as lacking scientific rigor. This paper attempts to understand the negative implications of vaccine nationalism and seeks to explain how, in times of crisis, words such as unity and solidarity were replaced by populism, nationalism, and the politics of blame. To accomplish this, the paper employed a qualitative research method, where a review of the literature relating to the COVID-19, geopolitics, and vaccine nationalism revealed that the words unity and solidarity were non-existent in the fight against the pandemic. In doing so, nation-states put their interests ahead of the other states. It was observed that failure to ensure vaccines for developing countries risks prolonging the pandemic.  

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