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Nearly a year after the coronavirus pandemic began, countries worldwide have armed themselves with various vaccines to inoculate their populations against the virus. Months of research and trials conducted by some of the premier pharmaceuticals in the world have at last yielded some results, provoking governments to begin mass distribution.
The US has gained a head-start, with over 4.3 million doses administered already, as of 4 January 2021, with the approved vaccines being those developed by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. However, some concerns have been expressed about the slow pace of vaccine administration in the US, even as the death toll continues rising. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases scientist advising the US government, addressed these concerns, and gave assurances that the vaccination programme would soon be able to pick up speed.
Meanwhile, India is a country of particular significance in the vaccination effort. Two vaccines—Covishield, developed by AstraZenca in collaboration with UK’s Oxford University, and Covaxin, developed by the local manufacturer Bharat Biotech. Given the large demand for the vaccine in the world’s second-most populous country, vaccine administration will be done in a phased manner. The priority group will be the 30 million workers at the forefront of the healthcare efforts. 270 million people above the age of 50 and those below 50 with associated comorbidities are another priority group. The cumulative total of the first set of vaccine recipients in India is a near-equivalent of the US population.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently gave a speech lauding the efforts of India’s healthcare workers, and announced the commencement of the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination programme in the coming weeks. Several challenges lie ahead for the government—the foremost of these being effectively identifying those belonging to the priority groups. Earlier statements indicate that the government will use the electoral rolls to identify requisite individuals. Another prevalent question is of the efficacy of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin—data so far is not available. While many have criticised the opacity surrounding this particular vaccine, the company itself has made several statements seeking to assure people of its effectiveness.
So far, India has restricted the exports of its vaccines due to the large domestic demand. However, Bharat Biotech has been conducting clinical trials in 12 countries, including the UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The designated producer of vaccines, India’s Serum Institute, has so far directed the supply of vaccines towards the Indian government. It has not given access to the private sector or to foreign entities; according to CEO Adar Poonawala, this is "so that at least the most vulnerable in the states of our country or in other parts of other countries are taken care of."
Meanwhile, Europe is in political turmoil over vaccine distribution. While the UK has made significant progress—with over a million doses administered so far—the same cannot be said of the European Union countries. Most member-states’ governments, along with the European Commission, have come under fire for the significant delay in vaccine administration. While the EU has signed deals with six vaccine producers (including Pfizer and BioNTech), they have thus far administered only a small percentage of available doses. In Madrid, the Spanish capital, for example, only around 6% of available doses have been administered. So far, the country leading in terms of administered doses is Germany—with a vaccination rate of 0.32 per 100 people (for comparison, the UK is at 1.39 per 100 people, and the US at 1.38 per 100). Meanwhile, others lag far behind: for instance, France has only immunised 500 people so far. Countries like Denmark have attributed this slow pace to the lack of their national capacities to deliver the vaccine effectively. Meanwhile, the EU drugs regulator remains undecided with regards to approving the Moderna vaccine. Others, like Germany, are experiencing administrative delays in determining the amount of doses that can be administered from each vial of a vaccine; Spain attributed its setbacks to a delay in the delivery of vaccine supplies.
Overall, European efforts to administer the vaccine have been poorly coordinated and sluggish. Critics have gone so far as to correlate Brexit and the relative efficiency of Britain’s immunisation effort, to lambast the EU’s performance. The coming weeks will show whether European leaders’ multiple assurances of better delivery will hold water or not.
The developing world stands last in line. Considering that the US, Europe, and even India managed to sign deals for acquiring the vaccines well in advance, many have raised concerns about the equitable global distribution of the vaccines. A joint study by Amnesty International, Oxfam, and others has found that “at least 90% of people in 67 low-income countries stand little chance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.” However, there may yet be a glimmer of hope for the developing world, even as rich countries have acquired over 50% of the eight-most promising vaccines. For instance, the US has begun drawing up plans to distribute its surplus vaccine doses to low and middle-income countries.
For all its setbacks and delays and probability of inequity, the global vaccination effort has, at long last, begun. Our long ordeal with uncertainty is perhaps now at an end, and the coming weeks will show whether optimism at this point is well-founded, as countries all across the world make a final push towards normalcy.