Deployment of COVID-19 vaccines
As of 3 January 2024, 13.53 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, with 70.6 percent of the global population having received at least one dose.[1][2] While 4.19 million vaccines were then being administered daily, only 22.3 percent of people in low-income countries had received at least a first vaccine by September 2022, according to official reports from national health agencies, which are collated by Our World in Data.[3]
During a pandemic on the rapid timeline and scale of COVID-19 cases in 2020, international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), vaccine developers, governments, and industry evaluated the distribution of the eventual vaccine(s).[4] Individual countries producing a vaccine may be persuaded to favor the highest bidder for manufacturing or provide first-class service to their own country.[5][6][7] Experts emphasize that licensed vaccines should be available and affordable for people at the frontlines of healthcare and in most need.[5][7]
In April 2020, it was reported that the UK agreed to work with 20 other countries and global organizations, including France, Germany, and Italy, to find a vaccine and share the results, and that UK citizens would not get preferential access to any new COVID‑19 vaccines developed by taxpayer-funded UK universities.[8] Several companies planned to initially manufacture a vaccine at artificially low prices, then increase prices for profitability later if annual vaccinations are needed and as countries build stock for future needs.[7]
The WHO had set out the target to vaccinate 40% of the population of all countries by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-2022,[9] but many countries missed the 40% target at the end of 2021.[10][11]
Tailored vaccination strategies[edit]
During a pandemic wave, rapid vaccination of those driving virus dissemination (the socially active) and vaccination of those at highest risk (the elderly, often socially less active) are two desirable goals that are at odds in the setting of limited vaccine supply.[193] However, the recent study (published in 2022) on the national COVID-19 vaccination schedules in 29 countries (EU, UK, and Israel) shows that all researched schedules prioritized criteria referring to higher risk (being over 65 years old and/or having coexisting health conditions) over the criteria referring to virus dissemination (occupation and/or housing conditions).[194] Postponing a second vaccine dose (the first is more important for avoiding a severe disease course) to allow faster access to the first dose for more persons has been chosen as deployment strategies in some countries.[195] Using a reduced mRNA vaccine dose in the younger, who have a lower disease risk, a stronger immune response to the vaccination but are key drivers of pandemic waves, may allow reaching more persons faster, with vaccination strategy models predicting a significant reduction of nation-wide case load and deaths.[196] On the other side, protection of some groups, e.g. the elderly or the immunosuppressed may require additional booster doses.[197] Concerns regarding the impact of vaccination in pregnancy, compounded through miss information disseminated through numerous sources including social media platforms, led to poor uptake in this group, despite evidence COVID-19 vaccination has no detrimental impact on live birth or miscarriage.[198]