We need to start thinking about promoting the demand, uptake, and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines NOW!

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly within countries around the world, thus necessitating the World Health Organisation (WHO) to project that the peak of the pandemic has not been reached yet. Globally, COVID-19 public health control measures are being implemented; however, promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates are still in the early-stage clinical trials. Judging from previous vaccine programs around the world and the challenges encountered in the distribution and uptake, there seems to be no guarantee that there will be widespread acceptance and equitable distribution of the new COVID-19 vaccines when they are approved for use. Therefore, there is an urgent need to start engaging the public to allay their fears and misconceptions with the view to building trust and promoting acceptance and ultimately achieving a potential impact in controlling the pandemic. Borrowing from previously used successful public health strategies, including the application of the health belief model to engage communities, can go a long way in promoting the demand, uptake, and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, thereby minimizing the likelihood of vaccine hesitancy.

Analysis of Key Factors of a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Program: A Mathematical Modeling Approach

“…The vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus have different efficacies and mechanisms of action [21,26,[28][29][30][31][32]. Vaccination programs have recently begun in other countries, using several different types of programs and different outcomes can therefore be anticipated [26,33,34]. For instance, a vaccination program can focus first on health care workers or on elderly people [80].…”

“…There are now more than 80 vaccines in development [21,26,[28][29][30][31][32]. Vaccination programs have recently begun (December) in a few countries, and there are many uncertainties regarding the optimal implementation of these vaccination programs and the probable outcomes [26,33,34]. Therefore, studying the COVID-19 vaccination programs is of paramount importance.…”

“…The outcomes of these studies are important because they help to better understand the impact of vaccination programs, and generate optimal actions to diminish the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus [18][19][20]41,42,50,80,83]. One factor that brings uncertainty to the outcomes and that must be taken into account is the fact that vaccines are under threat in different places and there are antivaccine movements that have gained traction with some people [33,84].…”

A mathematical programming approach for equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution in developing countries

“…Equitable distribution of resources must consider a fair sharing of the resources among recipients; however, studies emphasizing equitable distribution of resources are limited (Fianu & Davis, 2018). Equity and fairness are among the most critical issues to be considered in the vaccine distribution chain (Abila et al, 2020). In this regard, Enayati and Özaltın (2020) proposed a mathematical programming model for equitable influenza vaccine distribution.…”

Management of environmental health to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19

“…27 Even with the development of the COVID-19 vaccines, there will still be challenges and hesitancy in manufacturing, distribution, efficacy, and immunity duration. 28 There is still a long way to go before widespread vaccinations around the world, the primary means of reducing infection is to avoid direct exposure to it, interrupting its chain of transmission. 27 , 29 This would be possible via a combination of public health measures and infection prevention and control (IPC) in health care settings 30 including hand and respiratory hygiene, rational and appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), environmental cleaning and disinfection, and the safe management of waste resulting from the aforementioned procedures (see Fig.…”