Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the virus has evolved with time and has been getting stronger with each new variant. In the past two years, the world has experienced around five variants of COVID-19. These variants are named Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron. New variants of COVID are likely to originate until the world’s population is completely vaccinated.
The latest omicron variant was first identified in South Africa in November 2021. World Health Organization designated Omicron a “variant of concern” and warned that the global risks posed by it were very high. The evolution of COVID variants sends a warning on how the virus can evolve and spread without more aggressive measures to expand vaccinations. Until the world population is not vaccinated, this will happen repeatedly. Vaccine equity is the best way to end this pandemic.
Third-world countries are not getting enough doses to vaccinate people, whereas the developed nations have secured enough doses to vaccinate their population at least twice. In May 2020, the US signed a $1.2 billion deal with the British drugmaker AstraZeneca. The UK signed a similar deal with the same company, and other first-world countries also made similar bilateral deals. By January 2021, 96% of the Pfizer vaccine doses that were scheduled to be produced by the end of the year had already been bought. Countries representing 16% of the global population held over half of the doses from the most promising vaccine developers. Rich countries got vaccines, while poorer countries did not. Those that purchased first made the biggest orders, or invested in the research and development, standing at the front of the line. This is the reason that is making the pandemic last longer, and it is allowing infections to rage, and new variants to arise.
COVAX is an initiative taken by the World Health Organization. Its main objective is to provide vaccines to 92 middle and low-income countries that were shut out from making their deals, so this is a multilateral effort. The idea behind this initiative is that everyone has access to Covid-19 vaccines, regardless of the country’s GDP. It is funded by donations from wealthier governments and charities. The US alone has pledged $4 billion to this fund. As vaccines become available, COVAX hands them out to every country at once. The US and UK have promised to donate some surplus doses to COVAX, but neither has said when. This means rich countries, like the US, decide who gets what and when. Developed nations are keeping vaccines for themselves and are not providing enough vaccines to COVAX.
It is important that the world’s population is vaccinated to end this pandemic. Vaccine imbalance is the reason that third-world countries are unable to get enough vaccines causing new variants to arise.
My name is Ahmad Ali and I am a student of Strategic Studies at National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan. I like to write on topics related to International Relations, Psychology, Criminology and much more.
