Production, Regulation, and Distribution of COVID-19 Treatments and Vaccines

Abstract

AbstractChapter 12, ‘Production, Regulation, and Distribution of COVID-19 Treatments and Vaccines’, examines the layers of law and regulation that have constituted obstacles to or mechanisms for facilitating the rapid production and broad distribution of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. The chapter considers global governance structures that have been used to improve access to these medical products, but also impediments posed by some countries to their equitable and worldwide distribution. This chapter looks at the implications of these measures and also of decisions regarding allocation of scarce COVID-19 treatments and vaccines for human rights. Also explored in this chapter is how regulatory authorities have managed the tension between needing to respond promptly to the risks posed by COVID-19 while ensuring that treatments and vaccines released to the public are safe and efficacious. This chapter examines law and policy that have sought to circumvent intellectual property laws which in turn have hindered the manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. It highlights differentials in the availability of vaccines to persons in the developed world and to those in low- and middle-income countries.