Facilitating Access to a COVID-19 Vaccine through Global Health Law

Threatening the entire world, the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to grow, with devastating effects on human health, social connections, and economic livelihoods. These crushing burdens are likely to increase dramatically as the pandemic continues its relentless march across the globe. Some governments have taken steps to mitigate the worst impacts of this threat through aggressive public health interventions — including diagnostic testing, contact tracing, widespread masking, and physical distancing — but with the pandemic expected to inflict unprecedented human suffering in the months ahead, it has become clear that only a vaccine will be able to contain the COVID-19 threat.There has not been a more soughtafter medical resource in our lifetimes than a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, and given this existential threat, vaccine candidates will move swiftly into clinical trials in the coming months. While vaccine development holds great promise, the discovery phase is only the first step. Clinical trials may well demonstrate that one or more vaccine candidates is safe and effective, yet those vaccines must still be approved by regulatory authorities, manufactured and distributed to scale, and made affordable for all. Depending on how these issues are resolved, a prospective vaccine could heal the rifts of a bitterly divided world, or it could exacerbate them if countries hoard a necessary vaccines and undermine equitable access.This column explores the global health law reforms necessary to progressively realize universal access to a future COVID-19 vaccine. We begin by explaining the importance of global health law in the distribution of essential vaccines as a determinant of public health. The column then turns to examine the human rights foundations of global health law, conceptualizing vaccination access as a universal human right. We find that it will be crucial to develop legal commitments to ensure vaccine access prior to a scientific breakthrough, analyzing the legal barriers that impede global access and the global health law reforms necessary to facilitate global solidarity.