GLOBAL DASHBOARD
1. Background
The global dashboard for vaccine equality is a joint effort by United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World health organisation (WHO), and the University of Oxford with the cooperation across UN system, has put out recent data to justify core of the vaccine distribution programme
- Only One in four people has been vaccinated with at least one dose in low and middle-incomeme countries as of 9 November 2022
- Three in four people have got at least vaccinated one dose in High-income countries
2. What is Global Dashboard
The global dashboard for vaccine equity combines the latest data on the global roll out of COVID-19 vaccines with the "most recent socio economic information to illustriate why accelerating vaccine equity is not only critical to saving lives but also to faster and fairer recovery from the pandemic with benefits for all"
3.What is vaccine equity
- Vaccine equity means that vaccines should be allocated across all countries based on needs and regardless of their economic status
- Access to and allocation of vaccines should be based on principles grounded in the right of every human to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic, or any other social condition.
- Globally, the distribution of vaccines is shaped by challenging political, economic, social, diplomatic, and health-related matters.
- Therefore, accurate and up-to-date data and information are critical components in guiding the international community’s understanding of vaccine equity and shed light on the blind spots essential for achieving the last mile on vaccine equity
4. Efforts taken to reduce vaccine inequality
- COVAX provides a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate 20% of the countries population
- As greater coverage is required to ensure a stop to the spread of COVID-19, unless COVAX is able to support LICs beyond 20 per cent vaccination rate, the financial burden of vaccinating an additional 50 peper cent of the population will fall on most vulnerable countries.
- Additionally, some countries are already delivering booster doses, which indicates that COVID-19 vaccinations may become a recurring expenditure for countries.
- The COVID-19 vaccine delivery partnership (COVAX), a collective international effort with 'One Country Team', 'One Plan', and 'One Budget' which was launched by WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi and the World bank , to country's readiness and delivery support
- It aimed at accelerating COVID-19 vaccination coverage in 34 low coverage countries , along with their governments
5.What lies ahead
Going by WHO's dictum that no one is safe until everyone is safe, it is imperative that adequate quantities of COVID-19 vaccine are available to countries across the world
Source:The Hindu, WHO
