Covid Vaccines: What’s Going On?

The Covid vaccine is the talk of the town. We’ve all heard about the arguments between the UK and EU over vaccine doses, and Biden’s race for 150 million vaccinations in 100 days. So how is the global community faring with their rollout schemes? Let’s take a whistle stop tour and find out.

Europe: what’s the UK done right, that the EU hasn’t?

For what feels like the first time since the pandemic started, the UK is ahead of the curve, having vaccinated more than 12 million people. Europe, on the other hand, is struggling. Why?

Early preparation: the UK started early. They approved their first vaccine — Pfizer/BioNTech — back on 2nd December, whereas the EU gave approval on 21st December, by which point the UK had already begun vaccinating.

As mentioned in our previous article, anti-vax beliefs hinder vaccination uptake. Tackling this is key. The UK was one of the first to do so, working with social media companies to take down misinformation, and recruiting public figures to share their vaccination experience. Many EU countries are now following suit, for example, Romania has recruited star athletes to spread the pro-vax message.

These factors, early preparation and effective communication to the public, are key to any successful global health campaign.

Margaret Keenan, aged 91, was the first person in the world to be given the vaccination on 8th December, in the UK. Credit: Jacob King — PA Wire/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Across the pond: 150 million vaccinations in 100 days. How’s that looking?

President Biden promised 150 million doses of vaccine in his first 100 days in office (upped from the initial 100 million after criticisms of under-ambition). What’s been done to achieve this?

During the Trump administration, CDC estimations suggest that just over 50% of vaccines distributed to states were ultimately administered. The problem therefore seemed to be poor logistics, rather than vaccine supply. Vaccination centres were not told how many doses to expect in advance, and therefore could not prepare. This was a major problem. To tackle this, the new administration has focused on infrastructure — with guarantees on minimum levels of supply and plans to set up mass vaccination centres over the next weeks.

Will this be enough to achieve 150 million doses? Currently it’s too early to say– around 1.5 million doses per day are needed to achieve his target, but currently doses are lagging behind at 1.3 million per day. Only time will tell if these new strategies will work.

Biden aims to get 150 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office. Credit: Voa News

Outside of the Western Hemisphere: where caution and observation dominates

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region have been the pandemic success stories, with few infections and deaths. How are they faring with vaccines? The pace is certainly much slower, with many nations not beginning vaccinations until February or March 2021. New Zealand won’t begin until April 2021. Why is this?

Unlike the US and UK, these countries aren’t struggling with high infection and death rates. The need for vaccination is not as urgent. They can afford to monitor vaccination efficacy and safety, and can wait to negotiate a more reasonable price for the vaccines. This demonstrates the benefits of early, strong intervention during the beginnings of the pandemic.

Jacinda Arden, Prime Minister of New Zealand, is not planning to begin vaccination until April, citing they will not compromise on assessing vaccine safety and efficacy. Credit: Getty Images

The downside of vaccine hoarding: lower income countries are missing out

Despite the problems facing Western countries, it is ultimately lower income countries that lose out. Richer countries with only 14% of the world’s population have bought 53% of the global vaccine supply, meaning 90% of people in lower income countries have little chance of getting vaccinated in 2021. What’s being done to help them?

The Covax programme — a collaboration between WHO, World Bank, Unicef and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation amongst others — are aiming to distribute 2 billion vaccinations to lower income countries. Problem solved? Unfortunately not. This programme meets only 20% of their vaccine needs. With 70% of the global population requiring immunity to stop Covid-19, further decisive action is needed.

Covax, a collaboration between WHO, World Bank, Unicef and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation amongst others, aim to distribute 2 billion vaccines to lower income countries. Credit: WHO

How’s the future looking?

Achieving sufficient vaccination levels is a global task. With new variants emerging globally, it’s a race against time. There’s lots of hope and fantastic biomedical research occurring globally — from promising results of vaccine trials, to research into mixing different vaccines — there’s scope to increase vaccination speed and reach. Only by coordination between countries can we end the disruption of livelihoods and return to normality.

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About the author

Jessy Zhang is a fourth year medical student at University of Cambridge, with interests in healthcare inequality, policy, and mental health. In her free time, she enjoys baking, reading and travelling!

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