Vaccine nationalism beyond COVID-19: Prior dynamics and subsequent effects

Vesna Trifunović, Jan Hendriks and Stuart Blume

Chapter 9 in Handbook of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Studies, 2026, pp 142-158 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The concept of vaccine nationalism, although not new, gained renewed attention during the COVID-19 pandemic as it revealed a complex interplay between global health priorities and national interests. This chapter explores the evolving aspect of vaccine nationalism prior to the pandemic, arguing that vaccines have long served strategic national goals. While globalization in the late 20th century shifted the focus toward global health needs, subsequent developments – particularly the COVID-19 crisis – revived nation-centered approaches to vaccine distribution and policy. The pandemic underscored the enduring power of pharmaceutical corporations and exposed stark inequalities between the Global North and the Global South. The chapter outlines the dynamics between globalist and national agendas before and during the pandemic, and the post-pandemic developments. It highlights how national vaccination projects, once closely tied to domestic production capacities, evolved into newer forms of nationalism characterized by vaccine hoarding and inequitable access. The chapter also describes the shifting dynamics from globalist vs nationalist agendas to the dynamics between the Global North and Global South in which high-income countries and corporations are wary of sharing know-how in vaccine production, while low-income countries call for equitable access to vaccines and vaccine sovereignty as safeguards against future inequities.

Keywords: Covid-19; Vaccine hoarding; Vaccine sovereignty; Pandemic Accord; Innovation system; Technology transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035338443
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035338450.00019 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23545_10

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().