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“We need to vaccinate as many people as possible, anywhere in the world, as quickly as possible,” said Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh.
In a survey, The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of about 50 organizations, interviewed 77 epidemiologists, virologists, and infectious disease physicians from 28 countries, including the African Alliance, Oxfam, and Unaids.
Nearly nine out of ten researchers surveyed believe that slow global vaccination increases the likelihood of more vaccine-resistant mutations.
“There are huge benefits for all of having fairer access to vaccines and achieving global herd immunity,” said Quarraisha Abdool Karim, professor of clinical epidemiology at Columbia University, in an Oxfam news release.
Ten percent
Only ten percent of people in most poor countries will be vaccinated within a year if the current international vaccination rate continues, estimates The People’s Vaccine Alliance.
Two-thirds of the researchers surveyed believe that new or modified vaccines will be needed within a year to stop the new variants of the coronavirus.
“The more the virus spreads, the more likely it is that mutations and variants will emerge, which could render our current vaccines ineffective. At the same time, poor countries lack vaccines and basic medical supplies. Viruses don’t care about borders, “says Professor Devi Sridhar of the University of Edinburgh, in the Oxfam press release.
WHO critical
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that the widening gap in vaccine distribution between rich and poor countries is “morally reprehensible.”
“The gap between the number of doses of vaccines distributed to rich and poor countries grows and becomes more grotesque with each passing day,” CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week.
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