The global vaccine rollout

With the development of several effective vaccines to protect against COVID-19, vaccination efforts have ramped up in earnest around the world. Here in the UK, at the time of writing, 7.4% of the population have received at least their first dose of a vaccine – either the Oxford-Astra Zeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In terms of doses per 100,000 people, the UK is 4th in the entire world for the percentage of population vaccinated. This is behind extremely wealthy countries like Israel, the UAE and Bahrain. However, as with any humanitarian crisis, it’s often second and third world countries which suffer way longer than developed countries as financial limitations, infrastructure and education prevent proper treatment from being administered. With the WHO criticising ‘stockpiling’ by developed countries, how does the vaccine rollout look across the rest of the world? 

Up to the 18th of January, the EU had handed out 5.5 million doses, yet 4.3 million of those were within the UK, with neighbouring countries like France receiving stark criticism for the speed of their rollout. Many poorer countries in Europe are much above France in terms of rate of vaccination, with the Netherlands and Belgium still yet to vaccinate more than 1% of their general population. The UK government have as of this week announced that in some areas, the over 70’s and clinically vulnerable can now begin to receive vaccines, providing the cohort of over 80’s have been vaccinated. Indeed, it is easy to find fault with the government’s response to coronavirus, but the vaccination rollout seems, thus far, to be both robust and rapid. When combined with the relatively small population in UK compared to larger countries with 6 times the population such as the USA, we should see the results of our efforts sooner. Scientists are currently uncertain how vaccines will prevent transmissions, but it is thought that severe manifestations of the disease and hospitalisations should be reduced over time. 

As aforementioned, there has been criticism by the WHO of the limited supply of vaccines to lower economically developed countries {LEDC’s) and regions, particularly those in South America and Africa. The director of the WHO said recently, “The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure and the price will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the poorest countries,". A similar phenomenon occurred amidst the HIV/AIDS epidemic which began in the 1980’s, whereby autoimmune therapies and anti-virals were available to those in 1st world countries whilst the epidemic raged on in Africa. Charity efforts have ensured 900 million doses have been secured for future use in Africa, which covers a third of the population of the entire continent. One fears the world will be back to ‘normal’ in our developed world, whilst we turn a blind eye to the pandemic raging on in other corners of the globe.

92 LEDC’s are thought to be part of WHO’s Covax programme, which aims to supply and distribute vaccines to the poorest of the world’s countries. The majority of the money needed to accomplish this challenge has arisen through donation, and at 6 billion dollars, the target of 8 billion dollars has almost been reached. Through a coalition with the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF will be aiding in the distribution of vaccines to these LEDC’s, an enormous logistical challenge given the varying infrastructure around the world. Combined with the complexities of certain vaccines and their storage conditions requiring cold chains (Pfizer-BioNTech), it remains to be seen how quickly this feat can be achieved.

Although some countries in Africa have a heightened awareness of public health and infection control given recent catastrophic Ebola outbreaks (which have been successfully contained), the health knowledge of providers in these countries is a strength in the rollout. Perhaps the infrastructure, rather than the acquisition of vaccine itself, will be the deciding factor on the totality of vaccination success in these regions. And, with anti-vaccination campaigns running rampant on social media in the UK, it seems cultural differences, religion and ethics may also be an extremely challenging barrier to tackle in regard to ensuring high uptake of vaccine in these developing countries.