The BRICS’ lagging vaccine diplomacy

This research paper examines the lack of collective cooperation among the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) regarding COVID-19 vaccine development, distribution, and intellectual property rights, arguing that the bloc missed an opportunity to demonstrate its capacity for global crisis management.

• The BRICS nations experienced a significant COVID-19 impact, with India recording 32.2 million infections and Brazil 20.3 million. Together, Brazil and India accounted for 80% of the 1.25 million total deaths across the five BRICS countries.
• Cooperation on vaccines within the bloc has been inconsistent. Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, reported as 92% effective, faced a mixed reception: it was initially blocked by Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency (though 928,000 doses were later imported in June 2021) and has not been approved by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. While China's Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines received WHO emergency-use listings in May and June 2021, South Africa only approved Sinovac in July 2021 without announcing procurement plans, and India's inclusion of these vaccines in its program remains unclear.
• Despite manufacturing capabilities, BRICS nations have struggled with internal vaccination rates and patent ownership. India, which provides 50% of global vaccine supplies via entities like the Serum Institute of India, had fully vaccinated only 8.8% of its population. In South Africa, only 6.9% were fully vaccinated, though the company Biovac is set to start manufacturing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in 2022 as a "fill-and-finish facility" for Africa.
• There was a delayed collective response to the October 2020 proposal by India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization to waive intellectual-property rights for COVID-19 technologies. The BRICS foreign ministers did not provide collective support until June 2021. Previously, Russia and China remained silent, and Brazil openly opposed the idea in alignment with Donald Trump before shifting its position in early 2021.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2021). The BRICS’ lagging vaccine diplomacy. https://saiia.org.za/research/the-brics-lagging-vaccine-diplomacy/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. The BRICS’ lagging vaccine diplomacy. 2021. https://saiia.org.za/research/the-brics-lagging-vaccine-diplomacy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=The BRICS’ lagging vaccine diplomacy |date=19 August 2021 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/the-brics-lagging-vaccine-diplomacy/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2021brics, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{The BRICS’ lagging vaccine diplomacy}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/the-brics-lagging-vaccine-diplomacy/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }