Few people in lower-income countries have received even one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine — only 12.4%.

Scientists in South Africa have been working around the clock to essentially reinvent the wheel by reverse engineering the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Moderna.

While the recently completed efforts of these South African scientists are heroic, their hard work would not have been necessary if Moderna had simply shared the vaccine recipe and know-how already.

This global emergency should have been an all-hands-on-deck response. But Moderna has chosen an all-hands-on-its-wallet approach to this pandemic.

The Biden administration must make every effort to pressure Moderna to share the vaccine recipe and know-how with scientists around the world.