By the end of 2021, high-income countries are expected to have large quantities of doses in excess of those needed to vaccinate their priority populations, and shouldĪllocate supplies to areas of high need in other countries, before vaccinating their entire populations Ĭontinue building production capacity and increasing supply, not only for the approved vaccines and late‑stage candidates, but also for ancillary products Īnticipate the surge in supply and ensure that logistics and infrastructure are in place for vaccinating populations In a few months, the projected expansion of production will likely see the bottleneck move from securing supply to vaccinating people. Directing vaccines to where the need is greatest would not only maximise the number of lives saved, but is also the fastest way to bring the pandemic under control by slowing transmission and reducing the likelihood of the emergence of viral variants of concern. The currently skewed distribution of vaccine is both inequitable and inefficient. Governments should act collectively now to accelerate vaccination in all countries. Meanwhile, low- and middle‑income countries are only now receiving their first shipments, including under the COVAX scheme without prompt action it may be years before their populations can be immunised. Despite production and distribution being strongly skewed in favour of high-income countries, some OECD and EU countries are still struggling to vaccinate their priority populations. By early March 2021 stringent regulatory agencies around the world had authorised several highly effective vaccines, and authorisations for additional products were imminent.Īlthough immunisation is now underway in many OECD countries, demand will continue to outstrip supply for some time. The rapid development of effective COVID‑19 vaccines is an extraordinary achievement. Governments should therefore act now to accelerate vaccination globally, regardless of international borders, by reallocating supplies to areas of greatest need continuing the scaling-up of production ensuring that necessary logistics and health care infrastructure are in place providing further financial and in-kind support to COVAX and developing long-term strategies that include commitments to making vaccines available where they are needed most, including through sharing intellectual property and facilitating technology transfer. Directing vaccine to where need is greatest would maximise the number of lives saved and speed bringing the pandemic under control, by slowing transmission and reducing the likelihood of the emergence of viral variants of concern. However, demand will continue to outstrip supply for some time and currently, distribution is strongly skewed in favour of high-income countries. Following the extraordinarily rapid development of COVID‑19 vaccines, immunisation is underway in many OECD countries.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |