The world exceeds the 10 billion Covid vaccine dose administered

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rolled up his sleeves to inoculate Pfizer BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine in December 2020 and launched one of the world’s first mass deployments of Covid Shot, he said. It was declared “the beginning of the end”. Of a pandemic. “

Thirteen months later, his predictions were proved Far from the truthHowever, there are 10 billion vaccinations worldwide. This is a milestone that reflects the tremendous speed of government and pharmaceutical mobilization, and many countries can imagine the near future when people coexist with the virus but are not restricted to the virus. I can do it. ..

Milestone reached on Friday, According to the Our World in Data project at Oxford UniversityTheoretically, even if 10 billion doses could mean at least one shot against all 7.9 billion people in the world, it cannot be reached fairly.

In the wealthiest countries, 77% of people take at least one dose, but in low-income countries, that figure is less than 10%.In some countries as North America and Europe compete to overcome the Omicron surge by offering boosters I’m thinking of the 4th shotMore than one-third of the world’s people, many of them live in Africa, and the poor in Asia are still waiting for their first dose.

The United States administered five additional shots (approximately 85 million doses) of the total dose given throughout Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

Madhukar Pai, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at McGill University in Montreal, said:

And not all vaccines are the same.Made in China Shown to be less effective Pfizer-More than BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines. And while almost every Covid vaccine in the world protects against serious illness, early studies suggest: Most provide little protection against infection from Omicron..

The results of the vaccine gap are highlighted by Omicron, first identified in southern Africa. Low vaccination rates create conditions for the spread of the virus and may lead to the emergence of new variants.

Disparities remain while Covax, a global vaccine-sharing initiative that facilitates the distribution of donations from rich countries, is increasing its deliveries. After making a late start due to the massive outbreaks that caused hoarding and export disruptions by rich countries, Covax said this month that it had achieved its billionth dose, which is less than half of its original target. is.

False information about social media Distrust of governments and pharmaceutical companies has led to vaccine hesitation in many countries.Deliver doses to remote areas, even where people are willing to be inoculated Poor health infrastructure has been challenged..

In sub-Saharan Africa, Thomas Hale, an associate professor of public policy at Oxford University, said: A general challenge to building a stronger healthcare system in these countries. “

High-income countries have announced supporting initiatives, including Global Covid Corps. U.S. Government Program Help countries overcome logistics and delivery hurdles. But experts disagree with another major challenge: developed countries disagree with waiving vaccine intellectual property restrictions and pressure poor countries to share technology with pharmaceutical companies so that doses can be manufactured locally. It is said that it was not applied.

South Africa, for example, has set up a hub for scientists to start developing mRNA vaccines. With the support of WHOIs trying to reverse engineer the Moderna vaccine from scratch because US pharmaceutical companies do not share that technology.

Dr. Pai likened this to reinventing the wheel while the car was on fire.

“Through this pandemic, I learned that charity doesn’t work in world health, and charity isn’t the same as justice,” he said. “And that’s what the nations are looking for — just an approach to being able to save them.”