U.S. public support for COVID-19 vaccine donation to low- and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

As COVID-19 vaccines become available to the public, there will be a massive worldwide distribution effort. Vaccine distribution has historically been unequal primarily due to the inability of nations with developing economies to purchase enough vaccine to fully vaccinate their populations. Inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines will not just cause humanitarian suffering, it will likely also be associated with increased economic suffering worldwide. This study focuses on the U.S. population and its beliefs about future COVID-19 vaccine donation by the U.S. to low- and middle-income countries. This study carried out a survey among 788 U.S. adults. Variables include demographics, COVID-19 vaccine priority status, COVID-19 vaccine donation beliefs, and Social Dominance Orientation. Analyses showed that older respondents were both less likely to endorse higher levels of COVID-19 vaccine donations and were more likely to want to wait until all in the U.S. who want the vaccine have received it; those who identified as Democrats were more likely to endorse higher levels of future COVID-19 vaccine donation than Republicans; and those scoring higher on SDO were both less likely to endorse higher levels of COVID-19 vaccine donations as well as more likely to want to wait until all in the U.S. who want the vaccine have received it. Policymakers, as well as healthcare providers and public health communication professionals, should give consideration to those messages most likely to engender support for global prevention efforts with each audience segment.

Investigating the Links Between Vaccination Against COVID-19 and Public Attitudes Toward Protective Countermeasures: Implications for Public Health

“…The elderly are the primary susceptible group. Statistical data from China, United States, and India also show a higher mortality rate among elderly COVID-19-infected persons (29,54,55). Consequently, the older the people are, the stronger they have the intention to be vaccinated.…”

COVID-19 Vaccine Donations—Vaccine Empathy or Vaccine Diplomacy? A Narrative Literature Review

“…However, vaccine donations, regardless of whether they are a result of vaccine empathy or vaccine diplomacy, could have a positive impact on the ever-increasingly widening vaccine inequality. Interestingly, the results of our narrative review suggest that, different from the makeup of news reports or other insights in mass media [35][36][37], the majority of scholarly articles on vaccine diplomacy published amid the pandemic supported the practice [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33] with only two [22,30] of the twelve records expressing concerns about potential domestic backlash for donating vaccines. Our findings suggest that what WHO officials indicated on 11 May 2021, when they state that "vaccine diplomacy is not cooperation" and only "clear and clean cooperation" could yield benefits to pandemic prevention and control [42], might be in direct contrast to most academics' positions on vaccine diplomacy [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33].…”

“…Interestingly, the results of our narrative review suggest that, different from the makeup of news reports or other insights in mass media [35][36][37], the majority of scholarly articles on vaccine diplomacy published amid the pandemic supported the practice [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33] with only two [22,30] of the twelve records expressing concerns about potential domestic backlash for donating vaccines. Our findings suggest that what WHO officials indicated on 11 May 2021, when they state that "vaccine diplomacy is not cooperation" and only "clear and clean cooperation" could yield benefits to pandemic prevention and control [42], might be in direct contrast to most academics' positions on vaccine diplomacy [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33]. While some criticisms towards vaccine diplomacy seem to be not completely unfounded, as the scale and severity of COVID-19 might make any potential future expected gains associated with these donations seem uncaring, possibly bordering on unsympathetic [19], the significance of the potential sustainability of vaccine diplomacy, which has deeper and stronger roots in multilateral cooperation and collaboration compared with vaccine empathy, along with how this sustainability might impact COVID-19 vaccine donations in the long run, should not be overlooked.…”

“…Naturally, particularly in light of distribution issues identified in the WHO's COVAX program (e.g., extremely slow roll-out) [15], a more hopeful alternative is for capable countries to show their vaccine empathy by sharing their vaccine surpluses with those in dire need. However, in light of the rampant vaccine nationalism sentiments [16] and the fact that COVID-19 herd immunity is difficult to achieve, particularly in light of vaccine hesitancy [10] and virulent mutations [17], it might become increasingly difficult for rich countries to share their "parked" COVID-19 doses [18].…”

Disproportionate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine distribution—A great threat to low- and middle-income countries

“…Inequality in the distribution of vaccines has always existed in the past as evident from the H1N1 Influenza outbreak in 2009 when vaccine supplies were completely dominated by developed rich countries. 2,3 Recent studies have shown that, with limited healthcare-related services, LMICs are more likely to have a higher infection and mortality rate as compared to HICs. Richard Hatchett, head of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said that "If COVID-19 vaccines are misallocated in the way they were in 2009, the pandemic will last longer, more people will die and the disruption will be greater than it needs to be".…”