Allocating COVID-19 Vaccines Globally: An Urgent Need

Bassi, Luca Li

doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.0105

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The pandemic has affected low-resource settings severely and is compounded by the lack of vaccine availability in the majority of LMICs (50). The pandemic exacerbated hospitals in low-resource settings, as many hospital systems were overwhelmed with the exponentially increasing volumes of COVID patients without the infrastructure to support these patients or provide the necessary care to treat them.…”

Section: Weaknessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering a sustainable pediatric cardiac workforce in the developing world during the current COVID-19 pandemic

Murala¹,

Kim²,

Karl³

et al. 2022

AME Surg J

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The majority of the world's population with congenital heart disease (CHD) does not have access to corrective surgery, including 70% of those living in sub-Saharan Africa. Communicable diseases still cause significant mortality in low-and mid-income countries (LMICs), but increasingly, the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCD), such as CHD and rheumatic heart disease (RHD), has increased, creating great strain on fragile healthcare systems. The number of pediatric cardiac centers in LMICs is grossly inadequate to provide the necessary care. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2 has only worsened the global disparities, and unfortunately has set the clock back by a few years. There has been an interruption of foreign missions and collaborations, which has affected the care of children with heart disease, and which will further increase the number on the waitlist. Much of the hard-won progress made in improving neonatal, infant, and maternal mortality may be lost due to the pandemic. Time is running out for the ambitious sustainable development goals set for 2030. At present, only 1% of developing world are vaccinated against COVID-19 with the poorest countries not expected to receive vaccine until 2023. This intervening time provides a crucial opportunity to apply "frugal innovation" by training and equipping local teams and policy makers. We employed a Gap and SWOT analysis to identify the steps needed to work towards improving children's heart care in the developing world, all while using lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Weaknessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering a sustainable pediatric cardiac workforce in the developing world during the current COVID-19 pandemic

Murala¹,

Kim²,

Karl³

et al. 2022

AME Surg J

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“…[ 55 ] Scientific evidence available has shown that better economic and health outcomes by adopting a cooperative, equitable, and fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines on a global scale. [ 56 ]…”

Section: Onclusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Health Ethics and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Aliyu

2021

Annals of African Medicine

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Health is a human right anchored in values as a basic necessity of life. It promotes the well-being of persons, communities, economic prosperity, and national development. The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caught the world unaware and unprepared. It presented a huge challenge to the health and economic systems of every country. Across the spectrum of human endeavor and liberty, several ethical questions have been raised with regard to its management, particularly the public health control measures. Decisions for pandemic control measures are made under difficult circumstances driven by urgency and panic, with uncertainties and complexities for public goods over individual rights. Global solidarity in controlling the pandemic is being tested. National governments have the responsibility to protect public health on the grounds of common good. Political considerations should not be the basis for decision-making against the best available epidemiological data from pandemic disease dynamics. Hence, the need to adhere to the values of honesty, trust, human dignity, solidarity, reciprocity, accountability, transparency, and justice are major considerations. A literature search was conducted for the publications from academic databases and websites of health-relevant organizations. I discuss the ethical questions and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of public health control measures using the standard ethical principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and social (distributive) justice. It is observed that, at the country level, the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines are used to control the pandemic. As WHO through the COVAX strategy distributes the vaccines to less developed countries, a lot still needs to be done to address the complex bottlenecks of allocation and distribution. There is a need to ensure acceptable and transparent system that promotes cooperation, equitable access, and fair distribution of vaccines on a global scale.

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“…While there are now several highly efficacious vaccines to prevent severe disease 12 , 13 , and possibly infection 14 , 15 , from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), widespread vaccination will take months to years 16 , 17 and will likely need to be coupled with effective non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) 18 . For countries rolling out vaccines, easing NPIs too early could jeopardize success 18 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For countries rolling out vaccines, easing NPIs too early could jeopardize success 18 . However, for the majority of the world's population, particularly those living in LMIC, vaccine access and delivery is limited 19 and widespread vaccination coverage may take two or more years 17 , 20 . Thus, with or without vaccines, understanding the effectiveness of NPIs that can curtail COVID-19 transmission is critical.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding COVID-19 dynamics and the effects of interventions in the Philippines: A mathematical modelling study

Caldwell¹,

Lara-Tuprio²,

Teng³

et al. 2021

The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific

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Background: COVID-19 initially caused less severe outbreaks in many low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) compared with many high-income countries, possibly because of differing demographics, socioeconomics, surveillance, and policy responses. Here, we investigate the role of multiple factors on COVID-19 dynamics in the Philippines, a LMIC that has had a relatively severe COVID-19 outbreak. Methods:We applied an age-structured compartmental model that incorporated time-varying mobility, testing, and personal protective behaviors (through a "Minimum Health Standards" policy, MHS) to represent the first wave of the Philippines COVID-19 epidemic nationally and for three highly affected regions (Calabarzon, Central Visayas, and the National Capital Region). We estimated effects of control measures, key epidemiological parameters, and interventions.Findings: Population age structure, contact rates, mobility, testing, and MHS were sufficient to explain the Philippines epidemic based on the good fit between modelled and reported cases, hospitalisations, and deaths. The model indicated that MHS reduced the probability of transmission per contact by 13-27%. The February 2021 case detection rate was estimated at ~8%, population recovered at ~9%, and scenario projections indicated high sensitivity to MHS adherence.Interpretation: COVID-19 dynamics in the Philippines are driven by age, contact structure, mobility, and MHS adherence. Continued compliance with low-cost MHS should help the Philippines control the epidemic until vaccines are widely distributed, but disease resurgence may be occurring due to a combination of low population immunity and detection rates and new variants of concern.

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Allocating COVID-19 Vaccines Globally: An Urgent Need

Cited by 23 publications

References 3 publications

Fostering a sustainable pediatric cardiac workforce in the developing world during the current COVID-19 pandemic

Fostering a sustainable pediatric cardiac workforce in the developing world during the current COVID-19 pandemic

Public Health Ethics and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Understanding COVID-19 dynamics and the effects of interventions in the Philippines: A mathematical modelling study

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