Global Vaccine Equity

Last Updated March 4, 2022

Overview

Increasing access to vaccines worldwide must be an integral component of an effective global infection mitigation strategy. The Omicron variant led to worldwide spikes in COVID-19 infection rates and related deaths. We will likely see similar spikes in the coming years unless disparities in vaccine access, capacity, development, and technology are addressed.

COVID-19 infection rates declined in 2021, mainly in wealthier nations with greater access to vaccines, the infrastructure to diagnose the virus, and facilities to treat it. But pockets of the world with low vaccination rates remain hotbeds for variants like Delta and Omicron, which often prove to be more resilient to base levels of vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy among some groups notwithstanding, the evidence suggests increased vaccination rates slow the propagation of COVID-19 and reduce the number and frequencies of emergent variants.