May 08, 2021 12:00:00

What are the three ways to spread the vaccine to developing countries?

At the time of writing the article, vaccination against the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has started in many countries, but the progress of vaccination varies greatly from country to country, especially in

low- and middle-income countries. The current situation is that the vaccination rate is low. Michael Tour, a professor of epidemiology at the Burnet Institute , an Australian medical institute, explains 'three ways to spread vaccines to developing countries.'

3 ways to vaccinate the world and make sure everyone benefits, rich and poor
https://theconversation.com/3-ways-to-vaccinate-the-world-and-make-sure-everyone-benefits-rich-and-poor-155943

United Kingdom weekly newspaper ' The Economist is the research division of the' Economist Intelligence Unit of the estimated According to the many high-income nation with a focus on Europe is that of the vaccination is completed to almost all the people in the 2021 year. On the other hand, it will take until 2022 in Asian and Oceanian countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and Australia and middle-income countries, and it is expected to take until 2023 in some low-income countries.

Tour points out that vaccination inequality not only causes moral problems, but also perpetuates global health, social and economic problems. The 'problems caused by vaccination inequity' claimed by Mr. Tours are as follows.

・ 1: Due to the delay in vaccination, the life that should have been saved is lost.
・ 2: The longer it takes to control the epidemic of the virus, the more the virus will mutate, which may reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine.
・ 3: If there are areas where the pandemic has not ended, trade and supply chains will be disrupted, and traffic will decrease.

Even if vaccinated in most countries, there is a risk that the unvaccinated country will become the 'breeding ground for SARS-CoV-2 mutants' and spread the vaccine-ineffective mutants to other countries. It has been pointed out that people from all countries should be vaccinated to keep the whole world safe.

What if some countries don't get the new corona vaccine? --GIGAZINE

So Tour advocates the following 'three ways to ensure global vaccine equity' and argues that developed countries should take the lead in supporting developing countries.

◆ 1: Cooperate with 'COVAX' efforts aimed at fair access to vaccines
' COVAX ' is an abbreviation for 'COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access', which is led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Control of Infectious Diseases (CEPI). -19 This is an initiative to deploy vaccines in developing countries. COVAX has completed negotiations with multiple manufacturers in 2020, and plans to distribute a total of 2 billion vaccines to developing countries by the end of 2021.

However, COVAX's efforts are also limited, and if 2 billion doses of vaccine are distributed in 92 countries to be distributed, the vaccine distributed to one country will be less than 20% of the population of that country. In addition, if production delays or delivery delays occur in developed countries that have production facilities, vaccination in developing countries may be delayed. For measures to this situation, in February 2021 of WHO Tedorosu-Adanomu Secretary General, developed countries so as not to COVAX of initiatives, such as adding order the manufacturer is impaired request was.

◆ 2: Low- and middle-income nations develop their own vaccines
Vaccines are not necessarily manufactured only in developed countries, and some developing countries are trying to manufacture vaccines domestically.

The Serum Institute of India , an Indian pharmaceutical manufacturer, manufactures the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and was once eager to participate in COVAX and export it to other countries. However, at the time of writing the article, exports had to be suspended due to the outbreak of infection in India.

In addition, as many as five types of domestic vaccines are under development in Cuba, and some have already entered the final stage of clinical trials. If development goes smoothly, 60% of the population is scheduled to be vaccinated by August, and Latin American countries are also offering to cooperate with or purchase clinical trials. Mr. Tours points out that there are also hopes for vaccine development in developing countries, such as vaccine development in Thailand and Vietnam.

◆ 3: Developed countries donate vaccines
As is common with COVAX efforts, developed countries can donate vaccines to developing countries. In February that 'each of which deliver up to 5% of the vaccine of the new coronavirus secured in the developing countries,' Emmanuel macron the President of France is against Western countries called for other, already promoting their own vaccination Russia and China provide their own vaccines to developing countries in Africa, the Middle East and South America.

'The projected two-year gap in vaccination between the rich and the poor of the world is morally unacceptable and is the biggest obstacle to global health and economic recovery,' said Tour. He emphasized the importance of fair vaccine distribution led by developed countries.