Coronavirus: WHO chief scientist believes that 2 billion doses of milestone will reach faster (SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP / Getty Images)
Nearly one and a half years after the epidemic, the world has managed to reach the global stage One billion doses delivered Against New coronavirus In four months.
First vaccination started in America No more The uk After the World Health Organization (WHO) Approved a Pfizer’s Vaccine With BioNTech for emergency use. The pace of campaigns in some countries is remarkable, but it also highlights uneven distribution Between the rich regions.
As of 27 April, a dose of 1.06 billion has been given to 570 million people, which means that around 7.3% of the 7.79 billion population received at least one dose. More than 75% of the world’s population needs to be vaccinated to control the epidemic, scientists estimate.
“This is an unprecedented scientific achievement. One could not imagine that in 16 months after the new virus was identified, we have created one billion people worldwide using different platforms with different vaccines and in different countries, ”said Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist WHO .
Uneven distribution is a problem
The race to order vaccines exposes problems of inequality around the world. About three quarters of all doses went to only ten countries. In college China And the United States represents about half of all doses delivered, while Only 2% went to the entire African continent.
Krishna Udayakumar, Associate Director of Innovation, says, “It is very unbelievable that over a period of time we have developed many vaccines and received a billion doses, but the way it happened has led to worldwide disparities.” Duke Global Health Institute.
With slow vaccination in most countries, the issue of inequality will remain strong during 2021. Even though they handle their own campaigns well, the richest countries will not be able to “return to normal” if the rest of the world does so. Don’t walk together – With the return of international flights and the emergence of new variants, for example, the forecast is that the fight against coronovirus is far away for all.
“You cannot do this with less than a dozen fully vaccinated countries. In terms of saving lives and restoring the global economy, we need places like Myanmar and Papua New Guinea to succeed, ”said Peter Hotez, vaccine scientist at Peter Boiler college of medicine.
Another caveat for countries that increasingly vaccinate is the lack of access among minorities within the region. One Study For example, conducted in the UK, which found that over 80 million 1.1 million elderly who had been treated with health problems earlier in the year, 42.5% of white participants against coronovirus, compared to only 20.5% of black participants Was vaccinated.
Socioeconomic division was also observed by the study’s creators. “Vaccination of only parts of the population is not an effective strategy and leaves us vulnerable to new variants”, Udayakumar warned. “A global pandemic can only be dealt with by a global response.”
Udayakumar says that global vaccine manufacturers are increasing production to meet demand, but it may take 6 to 12 months to achieve. However, on a more positive note, Swaminathan believes that we will reach 2 billion dose milestones, which were delivered much faster than the first billion.
Want to know everything about the development and effectiveness of vaccines against Kovid-19? Sign EXAME and stay inside.
