The Journey of the Covid-19 Vaccine

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The Journey of the Covid-19 Vaccine

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: ANDREW STANLEY
• Published: December 3, 2021

Overview and context

• The development of COVID-19 vaccines is described as "miraculous" but the global inoculation effort "presents many obstacles."
• Historical contrast:
  • 1882: Dr. Robert Koch discovered the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB).
  • 1921: A TB vaccine was developed; it "offers only moderate protection against severe TB in infants and young children" and "No vaccine effectively prevents TB in adults."
  • TB currently "claims 1.5 million lives a year."
• COVID-19 timeline in the text:
  • COVID-19 was identified in January, 2020.
  • By December 2 of that year a vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer was approved for emergency use in the United States.
• Exceptional public financing and regulatory support for COVID-19 vaccine research, development, testing, and manufacturing are credited as a "game changer."

Progress on global vaccination and key numeric targets

• Global vaccination targets cited:
  • "40 percent in every country by the end of 2021"
  • "70 percent by mid-2022"
• Aggregate-level progress:
  • "Total vaccination rates have risen and continue to rise rapidly."
  • "Most advanced economies have contracted more than enough vaccines to cover their entire population."
  • "Many developing countries have managed to do the same directly or indirectly through vehicles like COVAX."

Delivery shortfalls and inequities (data-driven concerns)

• Disconnect between contracted/pledged doses and doses actually received:
  • COVAX: "contracted and received donation pledges for over 3 billion doses, but only about 440 million of those have been received so far."
• Resulting inequities in administered doses:
  • High-income countries: vaccination rates "exceeding 65 percent"
  • Many low-income countries: vaccination rates "barely top 3 percent"
• Subnational distribution issues:
  • Data reveal "uneven distribution of vaccine coverage" within countries.
  • In some advanced economies, once short-term supply challenges are addressed, "demand and vaccine hesitancy may become the next big obstacle for developing countries."

Policy implications and recommendations (implicit in text)

• Immediate action urged:
  • The IMF is "urging immediate action to prioritize deliveries to those developing economies with low vaccination rates."
• Priorities implied by the narrative:
  • Close the gap between doses secured on paper and doses delivered at port.
  • Prioritize vaccine deliveries to developing economies with low vaccination rates.
  • Address subnational inequities in coverage.
  • Anticipate and plan for demand-side obstacles such as vaccine hesitancy after supply constraints ease.

Andrew Stanley, F&D Magazine, December 2021

Content in this bundle

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