The global distribution of COVID-19 vaccine: The role of macro-socioeconomics measures

Roghani, Ali; Panahi, Samin

doi:10.1101/2021.02.09.21251436

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…These findings are in line with those of previous studies [43,44]. More specifically, Duan et al [43] carried out a cross-sectional ecological study and analyzed the association between country income level and COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates in 138 countries in terms of the mediating role of vaccination policies.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Assessing Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out Strategy Programs: A Cross-Country Study Using a Machine Learning Approach

2022

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After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and its spread across the world, countries have adopted containment measures to stop its transmission, limit fatalities, and relieve hospitals from straining and overwhelming conditions imposed by the virus. Many countries implemented social distancing and lockdown strategies that negatively impacted their economies and the psychological wellbeing of their citizens, even though they contributed to saving lives. Recently approved and available, COVID-19 vaccines can provide a really viable and sustainable option for controlling the pandemic. However, their uptake represents a global challenge due to vaccine hesitancy and logistic–organizational hurdles that have made its distribution stagnant in several developed countries despite several appeals by the media, policy- and decision-makers, and community leaders. Vaccine distribution is also a concern in developing countries, where there is a scarcity of doses. The objective of the present study was to set up a metric to assess vaccination uptake and identify national socio-economic factors influencing this indicator. We conducted a cross-country study. We first estimated the vaccination uptake rate across countries by fitting a logistic model to reported daily case numbers. Using the uptake rate, we estimated the vaccine roll-out index. Next, we used Random Forest, an “off-the-shelf” machine learning algorithm, to study the association between vaccination uptake rate and socio-economic factors. We found that the mean vaccine roll-out index is 0.016 (standard deviation 0.016), with a range between 0.0001 (Haiti) and 0.0829 (Mongolia). The top four factors associated with the vaccine roll-out index are the median per capita income, human development index, percentage of individuals who have used the internet in the last three months, and health expenditure per capita. The still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the disparity in vaccine adoption across low- and high-income countries, which represents a global public health challenge. We must pave the way for universal access to vaccines and other approved treatments, regardless of demographic structures and underlying health conditions. Income disparity remains, instead, an important cause of vaccine inequity, which restricts the functioning of the global vaccine allocation framework and, thus, the ending of the pandemic. Stronger mechanisms are needed to foster countries’ political willingness to promote vaccine and drug access equity in a globalized society where future pandemics and other global health crises can be anticipated.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Assessing Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out Strategy Programs: A Cross-Country Study Using a Machine Learning Approach

2022

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“…Prior to widespread vaccine allocation by COVAX, a large number of studies expressed concern about the fact that the majority of global vaccine purchases and vaccinations were occurring in a few high-income countries [ 7 , 26 , 27 ]. A study analyzing the relationship between macro-socioeconomic factors and the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines showed that higher gross domestic product per capita was associated with larger numbers of vaccinations [ 28 ], and similar findings were also observed within the United States [ 29 ]. A few studies focused on the different stages of vaccination policies in different countries, which showed that the poorest countries were often lagging behind in with clear strategies or resources to promote COVID-19 vaccination [ 30 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination among Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: The Mediating Role of Vaccination Policy

et al. 2021

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Inequity in the access to and deployment of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines has brought about great challenges in terms of resolving the pandemic. Aiming to analyze the association between country income level and COVID-19 vaccination coverage and explore the mediating role of vaccination policy, we conducted a cross-sectional ecological study. The dependent variable was COVID-19 vaccination coverage in 138 countries as of May 31, 2021. A single-mediator model based on structural equation modeling was developed to analyze mediation effects in different country income groups. Compared with high-income countries, upper-middle- (β = −1.44, 95% CI: −1.86–−1.02, p < 0.001), lower-middle- (β = −2.24, 95% CI: −2.67–−1.82, p < 0.001), and low- (β = −4.05, 95% CI: −4.59–−3.51, p < 0.001) income countries had lower vaccination coverage. Vaccination policies mediated 14.6% and 15.6% of the effect in upper-middle- (β = −0.21, 95% CI: −0.39–−0.03, p = 0.020) and lower-middle- (β = −0.35, 95% CI: −0.56–−0.13, p = 0.002) income countries, respectively, whereas the mediation effect was not significant in low-income countries (β = −0.21, 95% CI: −0.43–0.01, p = 0.062). The results were similar after adjusting for demographic structure and underlying health conditions. Income disparity remains an important cause of vaccine inequity, and the tendency toward “vaccine nationalism” restricts the functioning of the global vaccine allocation framework. Stronger mechanisms are needed to foster countries’ political will to promote vaccine equity.

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“…However, many factors may influence the efficiency and speed of vaccine rollout, which lagged some states considerably behind the average. Although it is well known that socioeconomic (SES) determinants have a tremendous impact on a faster vaccine rate globally (2), there are limited studies that examine the relationship between SES and vaccine level at a state level. Previous studies show that COVID-19 has impacted those economically disadvantaged (3); therefore, achieving vaccine equality and equity are crucial factors that can protect more vulnerable populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher COVID-19 Vaccination Rates among Unemployed in the United States: State Level Study in the First 100 days of Vaccine Initiation

Roghani

Panahi

2021

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BackgroundSocioeconomic factors may impact the efficiency of COVID vaccine rollout; however, there are limited studies that examine how state socioeconomic status influences the speed of vaccine distribution. This study aimed to demonstrate how employment rates as one of the main socioeconomic factors affect vaccine coverage in 50 states of the United States.MethodsThis study has obtained vaccine data for the 50 states in the United States, available in the electronic online database ourworldindata.org. In addition to employment rates, other socioeconomic determinants including poverty level, uninsured rates, population density, homeownership, educational level, the percentage of the elderly population, and educational level were obtained from ourworldindata.org data platform. Data from these 50 states were used for regression analyses to examine the relationship between socioeconomic and vaccination rates.ResultsOur study revealed a positive linear association between unemployment and vaccine rates, and states with higher unemployment rates were more likely to have higher vaccination rates. However, other socioeconomic measures do not significantly associate with vaccine coverage.ConclusionDespite other studies showing that vulnerable populations had lower vaccine rates, this study shows that states with higher unemployment rates are more likely to be vaccinated. However, the finding suggests a need for more research for the states with higher than 5% unemployment rates, as they had a lower vaccine coverage than states with a range of 4% to 5% unemployment rates.

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The global distribution of COVID-19 vaccine: The role of macro-socioeconomics measures

Cited by 14 publications

References 6 publications

Assessing Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out Strategy Programs: A Cross-Country Study Using a Machine Learning Approach

Assessing Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out Strategy Programs: A Cross-Country Study Using a Machine Learning Approach

Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination among Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: The Mediating Role of Vaccination Policy

Higher COVID-19 Vaccination Rates among Unemployed in the United States: State Level Study in the First 100 days of Vaccine Initiation

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