At least a fifth of the world's population may
not have access to a Covid-19 vaccine until 2022; according to a study
published on Wednesday; with wealthier nations reserving more than half of next
year's potential doses. With hopes that vaccines can bring an end to a pandemic
that has killed some 1.6 million people; countries including the United States;
Britain and the United Arab Emirates have already begun rolling out immunization
programs. Eager to increase their chances of having access to at least one of
the dozens of vaccines in development; many nations have snapped up allocations
of several different drugs. Wealthy nations - accounting for just 14 per cent
of the global population - have pre-ordered just over half of the vaccine doses
expected to be produced by the 13 leading developers next year, researchers
from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found. There are fears
that poorer nations will be left behind. Even if the drug makers all produce
effective, safe vaccines and meet their maximum global manufacturing targets,
the study said ‘at least a fifth of the world's population would not have
access to vaccines until 2022’. The research; published in the BMJ medical
journal; looked at publicly available data and found that as of mid-November;
reservations totaled 7.48 billion doses - equivalent to 3.76 billion immunization
courses; because most vaccines require two jabs. That is out of a total maximum
projected manufacturing capacity of 5.96 billion courses by the end of 2021.
Pooled purchasing scheme The study estimated that
up to 40pc of the vaccine courses from the leading manufacturers might be
available for low and middle-income countries; but said this would depend on
how rich countries share what they have bought. The authors; who cautioned that
public information was incomplete, called for ‘greater transparency and
accountability’ over support for equitable global access. They suggested the
implications could go well beyond health. ‘To varying degrees; trade with and
travel to countries might face continued disruption until access to effective
preventive or treatment measures; such as Covid-19 vaccines; becomes more
widely available;’ the report said. Many countries have joined a pooled
purchasing mechanism COVAX - coordinated by the World Health Organization; the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and vaccines alliance Gavi -
aiming to ensure that people across the world have access to a Covid-19 vaccine;
regardless of wealth. The initiative is hoping to have two billion doses
available by the end of 2021. But neither the United States nor Russia have so
far joined the program.
“Devastating crisis”
Jason
Schwartz; at the Yale School of Public Health; said US participation in
coordination efforts would be ‘invaluable’ in helping ensure people across the
world have access to vaccines ‘that will ultimately help bring an end to this
devastating global health crisis’. In a BMJ editorial; Schwartz said the
requirement for two doses and the very low temperatures needed to store some of
the vaccines added to the challenges for many countries. ‘The operational
challenges of the global Covid-19 vaccination program will be at least as
difficult as the scientific challenges associated with rapidly developing safe
and effective vaccines;’ he said. The Johns Hopkins authors said prices for
immunizations ranged from $6 per course to as high as $74. They found that if
all the vaccines work as hoped, many richer nations would have already reserved
at least one immunization per person. Researchers said that Canada had ordered
the equivalent of four doses per person; the United States has reserved just
enough for one vaccine course per person; while countries like Indonesia have
reserved less than one vaccine course for every two people.
0 Comments