A developing country’s greatest fear is to be the last in line for vaccination during a pandemic and this has happened before. African countries know it too well: when H5N1 hit in 2004 and later H1N1 in 2009, they were among the last to receive vaccines. The most developed countries made sure they could get large amounts that were later stored despite the promise of donation. Vaccine nationalism affects us all, and yet we’re seeing signs of it happening all over again.
Latin American scientists are battling this fear since the start of COVID-19. During the pandemic, students volunteered to produce safe equipment for the health care workers in their country, but scientists knew they needed to do more. Despite challenges faced, Latin American scientists made strong contributions that are beneficial not only their own countries but also to their neighbors.