Die globale Verteilung von COVID-19-Impfstoffen durch die Public Private Partnership COVAX in öffentlich-rechtlicher Perspektive

In 2020, COVAX, a Swiss-based public private partnership acting in private law forms, was established to enable equal access to COVID-19 vaccination worldwide. Given the extremely unequal allocation of vaccine doses resulting from the stark economic disparities between the nations, COVAX is intended as an instrument of international solidarity and redistribution, financed mainly by public development aid voluntarily contributed by the industrialized countries. The article examines COVAX from a public law perspective, asking whether it is an appropriate instrument of the international community to pursue the goal of distributing COVID-19 vaccines in a globally equitable manner. Thus, the article critically distances itself from the outset from considering the use of private actors and forms of action in public functions (»privatization«) essentially as a release of market economy rationality, which enables efficiency and effectiveness gains and relieves the public sector. The article unfolds a human rights perspective as well as administrative law insights on privatization, and further develops and applies the notion of International Public Authority. It argues, based on these complementary, multi-faceted critical references, that by resorting to COVAX as an instrument, the international community does not do justice to its legal duty to assist the developing nations and to timely facilitate equitable access to vaccines in the pandemic.