(Developing) pharmaceutical solutions to COVID-19: Navigating global tensions around the distribution of therapeutics and vaccines

The first outbreak of a new viral illness that would come to be known as Coronavirus disease (‘COVID-19') occurred in Wuhan, China, December 2019. The distribution of COVID-related infection and death has already been shown to follow a well-established social gradient. Evidence suggests that location on the social gradient helps to account not only for risk of individual mental and physical illness, accidents, and mortality, but also - reasonably - for co-morbidity prevalence within social groups. In Canada, for example, higher rates of COVID-19 infections in the major cities of Montreal and Toronto have been documented in low income neighbourhoods and neighbourhoods with higher percentages of Blacks, other visible minorities, immigrants, persons with low educational levels, and low incomes and poorer conditions of work. In England/Wales, social inequalities in COVID infections and mortality are evident. An ongoing concern is regarding the safety of fast-tracked vaccines, amidst political wrangling over the timing of approved vaccines.