In common with other western democratic states, Ireland’s vaccination efforts are rapidly progressing to include younger and less vulnerable people. The director general of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has described global vaccine distribution as being characterised by a “scandalous inequity”. As the West stockpiles its vaccines and resources, poorer countries are looking elsewhere for aid. This offers a golden opportunity for authoritarian regimes like China to target strategic states, expanding their influence and soft power through vaccine diplomacy. If the West continues to look inward, we may see these chickens coming home to roost sooner rather than later.

Source: The Irish Times June 07, 2021 00:00 UTC