Is the West hoarding Covid-19 vaccines?

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2021-06-28 12:00:10

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I read in the news that some organizations/poorer countries have been complaining that western countries are hoarding the Covid 19 vaccines. I have doubts about how true this is.

True, some countries did buy a few times more vaccine doses than the whole population. But it doesn't necessarily follow that these countries are hoarding the vaccines, to the point that others can't get their share on time. The others could also have purchased more vaccines than they ever need ( AKA hoarding the vaccines), provided that they can afford the bill and send in the order early enough.

The reason that western countries ordered more vaccine than they needed is because, at the time many of these orders were placed, these vaccines were still in various clinical trial phases. It was assumed at the time that many of these vaccines would not work, and so ordering excess was done to ensure that, should one become available, they were able to get their shipments in early.