Vaccine Inequality

As of the 18th of February 2021, more than 16 million people have received their first coronavirus vaccination in the UK. The UK has also ordered 407 million doses of 7 different vaccines, making them one of the countries who ordered the most vaccine doses relative to their populations. The development of the COVID vaccination and organisation of the vaccine programme has been of immense benefit to citizens and their families. However, as the vaccine has begun to be rolled out to other countries, concerns have been raised about inequalities relating to which countries actually receive the vaccines. Health experts have stated that due to higher income countries buying more doses, many poorer countries may not have access to the vaccine, leading to a lack of immunity. This has the potential to create worldwide socioeconomic issues.

A Global Health Innovation centre has confirmed that HICs (High Income Countries) have 4.2 billion vaccine doses, in comparison to the 670 million that LMICs (Low Middle Income Countries) hold.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent warnings of a “catastrophic moral failure” due to the inequalities in vaccine policies, and the EU has also “threatened to restrict exports” if there is not a fair distribution of the vaccines.

Health experts such as Professor James Chalmers, respiratory medicine expert at the University of Dundee, say that the UK should share their Coronavirus vaccines with the poorest nations throughout the world. Professor Chalmers said that those living in LMICs which make up 75% of the population are lacking help. He explains that “That can't be fair, that can't be right if you have a global commitment to public health", stressing the importance of making sure everyone receives a good quality of life. Many news programmes have also commented on the disparity seen in that our national vaccine programme will be vaccinating young and low risk individuals, while those at high risk in high poverty countries will not be receiving the vaccine.

In regard to this issue, the WHO has led a scheme called COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccinations Global Access), which is a “global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.”. This scheme is also led by two organisations; the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi). The aim of COVAX is to accelerate the manufacture and development of Coronavirus vaccines, and to ensure the sharing of vaccines, by guaranteeing fair access to all countries worldwide. They also have aimed to ensure that LMICs will receive the vaccines at the same time as HICs. This was in reply to Tedros Adhanom, director of the WHO, who highlighted the unfairness of the more vulnerable populations in poorer countries receiving the vaccinatinos after younger, healthier individuals in other countries. He stated that around 49 HICs had more than 39 million vaccination doses administered, only one LMIC had been given 25 doses.

As LMICs have more challenges such as higher poverty rates, weaker healthcare systems, higher disease prevalence, and poorer living conditions, they are more at risk to getting the virus compared to other countries. Additionally, the country’s lower overall income results in them not being able to afford as many vaccines for their vulnerable population.

The lack of vaccines provided to LMICs can also affect HICs and disrupt the economy for both. Wealthier nations rely on lower income countries for cheap labour sources, so if more individuals are ill or dying, there won’t be as many workers to transport or process materials.

As the pandemic is a global issue, it needs to be tackled jointly by countries across the world. Even if higher income countries vaccinate their populations first, this pandemic will still be an ongoing issue. The WHO suggests that at least 70% of the world population needs to have immunity, which could take until 2024. However, if these doses were allocated to all countries to protect health workers, the elderly, and those with underlying conditions, this may speed up the process of decreasing deaths.

What is going to be done?

Countries around the world have suffered, and are still suffering, from the impacts of the COVID pandemic. The issue of vaccine distribution highlights that countries across the world need to join together in order to reach immunity from coronavirus. Many individuals, professors and countries have urged that we need to look out for the world as a whole, and not just aim to get at the top of the vaccine league tables.

COVAX have raised around £3.4 billion so far, and the US, UK and EU have pledged money to help this scheme. Although this helps the populations greatly, COVAX says they need another £1.4 billion to reach their 2021 target of providing 1.3 billion doses to LMICs. There are issues surrounding persuading other countries that this is what needs to be done.

Nations such as the UK are aiming to provide vaccinations to health care workers and vulnerable populations in other countries once they have finished vaccinating their high priority groups. Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson, has told countries that “rather than rushing to vaccinate one country, we need to be doing the lot and we need to be doing it together.” The UK has replied to this by telling the WHO that they are the biggest supporter of COVAX’s global vaccination programme and will ensure vaccination access to all countries worldwide.

The UK has met their target of donating £250 million to COVAX in January, and have now mobilised around $1 billion from other global donors. On the 19th of February 2021, the EU has announced an additional donations of 500 million euros to contribute to support vulnerable countries in stopping the virus spread. The EU has donated over 2.2 billion euros, and is one of the leading contributors to the COVAX scheme, with Germany pledging another 900 million euros last week.

The support provided to COVAX is growing, with countries such as Canada, Japan and Germany who have committed to funding the scheme.

Other countries are being persuaded to join together to donate vaccines, funds and help LMICs to overcome this challenge. The pandemic has been dreadful for individuals and countries as a whole, especially to poorer nations due to their economy and healthcare.

The issue of vaccine distribution inevitably comes down to the moral responsibility felt by nations to support other countries in need.