The emergence of Omicron underscores the consequences of vaccine inequity. Experts say it will take more than donations to fix the problem
Still, Amavi argues that COVAX has made an extraordinary difference in addressing vaccine equity for COVID-19 compared to past vaccination campaigns. The human papillomavirus vaccine, for example, first became available in 2006—but many African countries have only had access to it in the last couple of years.
By contrast, high-income countries only need to increase spending by less than an additional one percent to vaccinate their entire populations. But Katz says people in low-income countries are also understandably skeptical. She points to early reports that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were safer and more efficacious than those available to low-income countries, such as AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
She adds that although the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines stood out early on—proving to be more than 90 percent effective at preventing severe disease—there is promising new evidence for other vaccines. “So all is not lost,” she says. If countries can make progress getting the first shots in arms, they can always come back and boost with the mRNA vaccines.
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