Inequality in access to COVID-19 vaccines may create a dangerous situation worldwide, making it impossible to completely control the virus’s outbreak.
According to People’s Vaccine Alliance, rich countries have hoarded enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over, leaving LMIC with only enough to vaccinate a small fraction of their population.
Vaccination has not yet begun in 142 countries. No one has been vaccinated yet, except for clinical trials, in 53 countries in Africa, 47 in the Asia-Pacific region, 28 in Central and South America and 14 in Europe.
In countries that do not have access to vaccines, it will not be possible to vaccinate at-risk groups such as health care workers, the elderly and chronic patients. This may lead to a continued increase in the number of cases and virus-related deaths in these countries.
Moreover, the absence of immunity from vaccines in many countries could make it impossible to fully contain the global pandemic. This may pose the danger of geographically isolating countries that cannot administer vaccines.
