The role of good governance in the race for global vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Governments have developed and implemented various policies and interventions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 vaccines are now being produced and distributed globally. This study investigated the role of good governance and government effectiveness indicators in the acquisition and administration of COVID-19 vaccines at the population level. Data on six World Bank good governance indicators for 172 countries for 2019 and machine-learning methods (K-Means Method and Principal Component Analysis) were used to cluster countries based on these indicators and COVID-19 vaccination rates. XGBoost was used to classify countries based on their vaccination status and identify the relative contribution of each governance indicator to the vaccination rollout in each country. Countries with the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates (e.g., Israel, United Arab Emirates, United States) also have higher effective governance indicators. Regulatory Quality is the most important indicator in predicting COVID-19 vaccination status in a country, followed by Voice and Accountability, and Government Effectiveness. Our findings suggest that coordinated global efforts led by the World Health Organization and wealthier nations may be necessary to assist in the supply and distribution of vaccines to those countries that have less effective governance.

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“…Recurrent waves of infection paired with more infectious virus variants are still placing a severe strain on public health systems, preventing governments from abolishing safety regulations and returning their countries to a pre-pandemic state. Potential explanations for recurrent infection waves include mutations of the virus that lead to (partial) evasion of vaccine-derived antibodies, anti-vaccination movements spreading misinformation, unsubstantiated rejection/fear of COVID-19 vaccines, conspiracy theories as well as mistrust in pharmaceutical companies or public institutions [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Aside from countering these obstacles, effective post-infection treatments are required to finally put a stop to the overload of hospitals, particularly intensive care units (ICUs).…”

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“…In this sense, by 11 December 2020, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] issued the first emergencyuse authorization for the mRNA-based BNT162b2 vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech (New York, NY, USA) [5]. Weeks later, other vaccines came out, and by the first trimester of 2021, several countries began to massively vaccinate their population [6,7] (Table 1). The Pfizer Phase III study included over 46,000 participants globally, and the results found 95.0% efficacy in preventing infection 7 days after the second dose administration in participants, with these results being pivotal in the FDA granting an EUA for the vaccine in the US.14 On 31 March 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech announced remarkable 100% vaccine efficacy in young adolescents aged 12-15 years, after phase 1/2/3 trials [6,7].…”

“…In this sense, by 11 December 2020, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] issued the first emergency-use authorization for the mRNA-based BNT162b2 vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech (New York, NY, USA) [ 5 ]. Weeks later, other vaccines came out, and by the first trimester of 2021, several countries began to massively vaccinate their population [ 6 , 7 ] ( Table 1 ).…”

“…The Pfizer Phase III study included over 46,000 participants globally, and the results found 95.0% efficacy in preventing infection 7 days after the second dose administration in participants, with these results being pivotal in the FDA granting an EUA for the vaccine in the US.14 On 31 March 2021, Pfizer and BioNTech announced remarkable 100% vaccine efficacy in young adolescents aged 12–15 years, after phase 1/2/3 trials [ 6 , 7 ].…”