Global Vaccine Disparities
Despite promises from many nations to provide vaccines to countries in need, vaccination disparities between wealthy and low-income nations remain stark. A key contributing factor has been identified by analysts.
COVID-19 has tested public health systems, and many have responded as expected. However, the vaccination rates differ significantly worldwide. According to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford, approximately 75% of distributed COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in wealthy countries, while only 0.6% of doses have gone to low-income countries, as reported by the New York Times.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on wealthy nations, pharmaceutical companies, and international institutions to "step up" and address global vaccine inequality. "How is it that vaccination rates in the United States and Europe are around 60%, while in Africa, it is under 14%?" Blinken asked. "It's not just wrong; it's a huge problem."
Blinken praised the life-saving innovation of vaccine manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Moderna, and Pfizer-BioNTech but criticized the inequitable distribution of doses. "When it comes to distribution, involving various actors—governments, companies, international organizations—we have fallen short," Blinken said.
Blinken also argued that vaccine distribution could have been fairer if pharmaceutical companies had shared their intellectual property. However, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla countered on Tuesday, saying that the unequal distribution wasn't the company's fault, pointing out that doses were made available to all countries but wealthier nations placed orders faster.
US Commitment to Global Vaccine Donation
The United States has pledged to donate at least 1.1 billion doses to low-income countries by 2023. So far, the U.S. has delivered 216.5 million doses globally, with 18 million doses yet to be delivered and 865.5 million remaining doses pledged to low-income countries, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
Of the doses delivered, 141 million have gone to lower-middle-income countries, 46.9 million to upper-middle-income countries, 21.4 million to low-income countries, and 7.3 million to high-income countries. KFF reports that 46% of the delivered doses were Pfizer-BioNTech, 31% were Moderna, 16% were Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a division of J&J), 2% were AstraZeneca, and 5% were unknown.
The Global Covid-19 Access Tracker
Blinken announced the launch of the Global Covid-19 Access Tracker, which aggregates global data on vaccine and ICU rates. He also revealed that the U.S. and J&J had reached an agreement to deliver additional vaccine doses to "conflict zones."
"We must ensure that those who cannot be reached by government vaccination campaigns are not left behind," Blinken said. "They need to be protected too."
Challenges to Equitable Vaccine Distribution
Despite donation commitments from the U.S. and other wealthy nations, research firm Airfinity identified another reason for global vaccine inequality: Wealthy nations appear to be purchasing more COVID-19 vaccine doses than they are using.
While countries and pharmaceutical companies have not disclosed the details of their vaccine purchase contracts, Airfinity compared wealthy nations' COVID-19 vaccine production numbers with the number of vaccines they have used.
Rich countries like Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and European Union members have produced significantly more doses than they have used. According to Airfinity, between one-third and one-half of these countries' vaccines are going unused, with some nearing expiration, as reported by NPR's "Goats and Soda."
The World Health Organization (WHO) previously called for countries to delay administering booster shots until at least 10% of every country's population was vaccinated. However, the stockpile in wealthy countries is expected to continue growing into next year, even after accounting for booster doses and child vaccinations.
By the end of this year, the surplus is projected to reach 1.2 billion doses. Nonetheless, Airfinity's CEO noted that about 600 million doses will be donated to other countries, with around 300 million coming from the United States.
The Road Ahead
Notably, Airfinity reported that this stockpile would have been sufficient to meet the WHO's goal of vaccinating at least 40% of the population in lower-income countries—a goal that is becoming "increasingly unlikely" to be met.
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