Conquering COVID: How Global Vaccine Inequality Risks Prolonging the Pandemic

Abstract

The development of effective vaccines during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been credited as a towering achievement in modern science. Since the end of 2020, the vaccine rollout has offered the promise of vanquishing the pandemic in the United States and other developed countries. Even as the U.S. and other wealthier nations encounter both setbacks and successes in their COVID-19 eradication efforts, developing countries around the world are likely to face far less fortunate fates. With much of the world’s vaccine production and distribution capacity reserved by wealthier nations, impoverished countries stand to face devastating financial, social, and health-related impacts. The consequences of this disparity will resonate deeply into the collective fabric of these countries, ensuring that the economic and geopolitical imbalance between developed and developing nations will widen even more substantially. Wealthier countries must do more to eliminate the inequality that exists in widespread SARS-CoV-2 vaccine availability in less-developed nations. Like HIV, TB, Malaria, and other global epidemics, COVID-19 cannot be forgotten just because the pandemic is eventually contained from the shores of wealthier nations. For as long as the pandemic rages in any corner of the globe, the world will never be truly rid of COVID-19. And all nations, rich or poor, will suffer the consequences.

COVID-19 vaccines in patients with cancer: immunogenicity, efficacy and safety

“…Everything said regarding differential responses to vaccines, toxicities and improvements in vaccine responses only applies if vaccines are available and accessible. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many countries that, owing to inequalities in vaccine distribution, can only achieve a 10% vaccine coverage of the population 221 . In addition to leaving patients in low-income countries potentially unprotected, this disparity contributes to the development of novel VOCs, thus prolonging the pandemic worldwide.…”

“…Therefore, distributing the available vaccine doses fairly worldwide is of the utmost importance. In this context, from a global perspective in patients with cancer as much as in all other populations, providing primary vaccination is more effective than administering boosters to those who are already vaccinated 221 , 222 .…”

Willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination in people living with HIV/AIDS from Latin America

“…Vaccination programs have been implemented in most countries, but unfortunately, with many disparities in the availability and speed of immunization between the different regions of the world. 4 , 5 …”

“…Vaccination programs have been implemented in most countries, but unfortunately, with many disparities in the availability and speed of immunization between the different regions of the world. 4,5 People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) have an increased risk and prevalence of chronic comorbidities as chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, hepatitis C and B, and anemia in comparison with the non-HIV population. 6 In addition, inflammation associated with the disease and antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been established as a risk factor for the development of metabolic derangements as diabetes mellitus in PLWH.…”

Untitled

“…Inequitable distribution and access to vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have compounded the pandemic and caused excess deaths as well as additional economic, social and political disruption. 1 Over 7.8 billion doses of vaccines have been administered as of 27 November 2021, yet less than one fourth of these doses were given in lower-middle-income or low-income countries 2 although these countries are carrying a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies estimate that the excess mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic is 35 times greater for low-income countries than for high-income countries.…”