Vaccine Distribution around the World

As vaccines roll out and are at an all time high in the country, we're starting to see changes in the ways we have been living the past year. The hope of everything going back to normal is high, but we should still pay attention to what is going on in foreign countries.

Since many first world countries were able to get a hold of the vaccines first, there was an uneven balance of vaccines being distributed. This is when the Covax scheme was in place. Covax was put together so that all countries were allowed equal access to the approved vaccines. Late last year as vaccines such as the Astrazeneca and Moderna were being approved, an international effort was set up last year to ensure that these vaccines would be equally accessible among both rich and poor countries. Although this Covax scheme had good intentions, it's not living up to manys expectations.

The first country to receive vaccines due to Covax was Ghana in February. Experts hope to distribute two billion doses by the end of this year, as so far there have been tens of millions shipped. Dr Tedros has criticised wealthier nations for undermining Covax, accusing them of "gobbling up" the global vaccine supply by ordering multiple times more than they need for their own populations. As of April first, only 0.3% of vaccines administered around the world had gone to low income countries.

The WHO, which plays a big part in Covax use, has authorized various vaccines. The latest vaccine that has been approved is Moderna, and the company had promised to give them five hundred million doses at a very reasonable price. A lot of these vaccines won't be available until 2022. Pfizer and Astra-Zenca vaccines have been distributed among the countries participating in Covax. Some countries that have benefitted and received vaccines include Nicaragua, El Salvador, Iran, Iraq, Barbados, and two countries in Africa, (Malawi and Uganda.)