By CATHERINE KYOBUTUNGI

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As the world races to find solutions to end the pandemic, one thing stands in the way of a successful global response, vaccine inequity. As of July 2021, 85 percent of vaccine doses administered globally have been given in high, and upper-middle-income countries and less than one percent in low-income countries. Middle and low-income countries represent more than three-quarters of the world’s population.

Africa is perhaps facing the highest inequity. Even though the continent represents 17 percent of the world’s population, only four doses have been given per 100 people so far, compared to 76 in North America, 74 in Europe, 48 in South America, and 46 in Asia. By June 2021, less than one percent of people in Africa had received a first and second dose and less than two percent of the 2.7 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses administered globally had been given in Africa.

It is becoming evident that the unequal distribution of vaccines is slowing down the global response to Covid-19. While life is close to returning to normal in highly vaccinated countries, several countries with low vaccination rates are grappling with devastating waves of new infections, increase in the number of hospitalised patients and deaths. However, the spread of new variants mainly among unvaccinated people in highly vaccinated countries has led to fears of a resurgence of the virus in those countries.

The World Health Organisation confirms that Africa is at high risk of a third wave of infections owing to the slow vaccine rollout and continuing spread of Covid-19 variants. A third wave would strain the continent’s already stretched health systems, leading to more deaths and eroding gains made in addressing other pressing health issues like HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, malaria, mother and child health, among others.

Vaccine inequity must be addressed now. No one is safe until everyone is safe; the time to act is now.

The global community must therefore act quickly to move to equitable distribution, or we risk prolonging the pandemic. Countries must work together to break down barriers to vaccine access, regardless of each country’s purchasing power. Vaccine equity must be all-encompassing and include actions to strengthen the entire supply chain from vaccine production to distribution.

Beyond the risk of prolonging the pandemic, vaccine inequity has amplified global health and financial inequalities. According to the World Bank, equitable vaccine distribution is essential to global economic recovery.

World leaders, governments, the private sector, and the scientific community must all redouble efforts to strengthen critical areas key to unlocking equitable distribution: research into new Covid-19 vaccines, vaccine production, barriers to global vaccine distribution, and factors limiting vaccine access in the countries that need them.

Currently, Africa only produces one percent of the vaccines used on the continent for prevention of childhood illnesses. This illustrates the need to ramp up capacity in vaccine manufacturing and boost the capacity of the continent’s regulatory bodies for medicines and vaccines.

In Africa, the Africa CDC is leading a plan to grow Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity from one percent to 60 percent of vaccines used on the continent by 2040.

Further, African governments must also continue to invest in local scientific research, not only on Covid-19, but infectious diseases at large, which continue to threaten the continent’s development. We are already seeing promising research on new Covid-19 vaccines happening in Uganda and Nigeria, where multiples vaccine candidates are under development.

This can be replicated across many more countries with additional government support. Africa will be closer to vaccine equity in the current and any future pandemics if it has its own successful vaccine candidates that can be manufactured on the continent or elsewhere.

Dr Catherine Kyobutungi is an epidemiologist and the Executive Director of the African Population and Health Research Centre