COVID Vaccines Shipped To Nations Not Prepared To Use Them

As vaccine shipments finally surge into poorer countries, the world is in danger of trading in one form of vaccine inequality for another, with disparities in access replaced by disparities in the ability to distribute them on the ground, Anthony Faiola and Sammy Westfall reported for Washington Post.

Photo Insert: Unloading of a vaccine shipment through COVAX

After a trying period of vaccine hoarding by wealthy countries, the last 40 days of 2021 saw more doses shipped to countries in need through the UN-backed Covax program than in the rest of last year combined, according to the World Health Organization’s vaccine director.

But distribution campaigns on the ground can take months to ramp up, even in rich nations, and a host of developing countries now receiving shipments are facing a combination of rollout challenges.

The World Bank, UN agencies, the Gavi vaccine alliance and charities have rolled out efforts and funding to bolster distribution programs in the developing world. But critics contend that not enough resources are being allocated to help poorer countries get shots in arms.

The result: A whole mess of vaccines sitting around and waiting to be used as the clock on expiration dates ticks down. According to research by the international humanitarian organization CARE, 32 low- and middle-income countries have used less than half of the vaccines they’ve received from the Covax program, bilateral donations, and other sources.

Only 27 percent of received vaccines have been used in Burkina Faso, 37 percent in Ghana, and 26 percent in Somalia. Burundi has used only 1 percent of received doses, according to CARE. That’s in part, critics say, because there’s been a huge global focus on vaccine access — but not enough on how to deploy vaccines when they land.

By late November, only 14 percent of the $5.8 billion spent by the World Bank on vaccine assistance went toward distribution, according to CARE’s research.

Developing countries “don’t have the ability to distribute because there hasn’t been the corresponding investment, and if they were going to do that, they would have to make such serious tradeoffs in their health systems,” Emily Janoch, CARE’s director of knowledge management, said.

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