The Right to Access The Vaccine as a Human Right

Abstract

This article aims to address the human rights obligations of pharma companies regarding access to vaccines and other drugs that are produced for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. It seems that the UN Guidelines on Trade and Human Rights are among the most important documents and organizations which give pharma and vaccine companies some responsibility and fair access to vaccines and special medicines, in case of emergency. Since the right of access to vaccines is a fundamental human right, access must be provided fairly in the emergency conditions of a pandemic virus. Besides, discrimination, monopolies and nationalism must be avoided as much as possible. The results illustrate that public access to the COVID-19 vaccine is justified under the heading of social contract and it persuades human rights to support the idea of corporate social responsibility more broadly. Other results of this article indicate that there are many challenges to achieving universal access to vaccines, including nationalism, monopolies, exorbitant pricing, and the spread of corruption. It is hoped that, with proper monitoring by international organizations and the World Health Organization, these challenges can be reduced to pave the way for fair access to vaccines as a fundamental human right