The highly uneven global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines is exacerbating deadly inequalities between—and within—countries, threatening to undermine socio-economic gains throughout the developing world, the United Nations warned Monday.
Two years into a pandemic that has killed millions, 2.8 billion people—91% of whom reside in low-income nations—have yet to receive their first lifesaving shot, according to a new analysis released this month by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).
Although there has been a substantial increase in the total number of Covid-19 vaccines administered over the past several months, the allocation of doses remains starkly unequal. Of the 10.7 billion jabs given out worldwide, just 1% have gone into the arms of people in low-income countries, the UNDP found.
In addition to giving the coronavirus more opportunities to circulate among unprotected populations—increasing the likelihood of new, potentially vaccine-resistant variants emerging and further prolonging the global public health emergency—vaccine inequity has harmed national economic recovery efforts, thereby widening “the poverty gap between rich
— source commondreams.org | Kenny Stancil | Mar 28, 2022