This stands in the way of vaccinating the world

It is a central component of the world’s vaccine-securing work. One year ago, John Arne Röttingen warned against vaccine nationalism. Developing countries are receiving only half of the vaccines they thought they would get in 2021.

When we walked into Advent last year, a new type of virus sparked concern. I grew up in the United Kingdom. The name became alpha, after the first letter of the British alphabet.

Well, in the new advent season, after one year of warnings that more varieties could be developed if not all of them were vaccinated, we got to letter number 15.

The Omikron mutated in South Africa. The conditions are right for us to keep counting.

0-3 percent are fully immune

The challenge is clearly greater in low-income countries in general. And vaccine coverage remains low, especially in Africa, John Arne Röttingen tells Aftenposten.

Rottingen is Norway’s ambassador for global health and works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Through the global cooperation of CoronaACT-A“The world is trying to ensure that all countries have access to vaccines, testing and treatment. Norway is one of the two leading ACT-A countries. When the Norwegian Prime Minister and Minister of Development Assistance is leading this work, along with South Africa, Röttingen has been his backer.

Figures from the World Health Organization show that large countries in Central Africa have very low vaccine coverage. Of the 20 countries with the lowest proportion of fully vaccinated, 16 are in Africa. They have between 0 and 3 percent complete vaccinations. Röttingen explains that in sub-Saharan Africa in general, about ten percent of the population is vaccinated.

– It’s a challenge to the world. Rottingen says it’s important to prioritize vaccination of high-risk groups there.

So what are the biggest challenges?

The ability to freeze, doubt and a few tests

It’s been nearly a year since Röttingen warned against vaccine nationalism in a column in Aftenposten. Vaccination is still slow in developing countries. Getting vaccinations is the biggest problem.

The goal of the Covax International Vaccine Cooperation was to distribute at least two billion doses of vaccine. The agreements that were made were really up to them, says Röttingen, but we will only have handed over half by the end of the year.

Covax is the body that works on vaccines internationally, as part of the ACT-A collaboration. Not reaching their vaccine target often bypasses poorer countries, says Röttingen.

Are there also challenges in obtaining vaccines in these countries?

Yes, there are also challenges with the ability to vaccinate in the health care system. And there will be practical challenges in dealing with mRNA vaccines, because, among other things, they require the ability to freeze over a longer period of time, in a different way than the vaccines these countries tend to use, Röttingen explains.

Less tests than Europe

And if the disparity between rich and poor countries is not large enough in terms of vaccines:

The difference in test numbers may be greater than the difference in getting vaccinated. The frequency of testing is at least 100 times higher in Europe than in Africa. This means that in practice we have very little knowledge about the spread of Covid-19. Sequencing capacity is also much lower in Africa, with South Africa as an exception.

On Wednesday, The New York Times wrote that several countries in South Africa had requested a halt to vaccine deliveries. They were afraid of getting rid of the vaccines. However, lack of knowledge and skepticism is also a barrier to vaccination in some countries.

Not least, we hear about it in Eastern European countries and also from some countries in Africa, says Röttingen.

Figures indicate that European countries such as Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldova and Bosnia also have low vaccination coverage. The proportion of full vaccinations in these countries is equal to or less than that of South Africa – the mother country of the Omicron variant.

Delivers much less than planned

Vaccine manufacturers say they could produce a very large number of vaccines in the future. Rooting calls for caution about estimations.

– It’s positive and means you can produce a maximum of 2 billion vaccines per day during the spring. Month. But production has not yet fully followed expectations. There may be challenges with estimates. Hence the skewed distribution is the biggest challenge. In practice, we have made it difficult for Covax to buy vaccines, says Røttingen.

The agreements have been secured through Covax for nearly six billion vaccines, but so far only about 590 million have been delivered. Restrictions on exports from India and production problems in several places are the cause.

Kovacs may have lost more than individual countries in the same tier that have a stronger economy and stronger political influence. We really know very little about this, because we have very little insight into deliveries and agreements, Röttgen believes.

Although there are more than 400 million doses left for a billion doses, Röttingen believes it is realistic. The number of doses delivered increases each week.

According to UNICEF, only about 83 million of the total 590 million vaccines have been directed to what is defined as a low-income country.

Why don’t more people go to low-income countries?

Low-income countries are comparatively fewer and smaller. Therefore, in absolute terms, more went to lower middle income countries. The picture is different in terms of population, says Röttingen.

We should expect new viruses to appear

These days, he sits at board meetings of the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, one of the bodies behind the Covax vaccine program. In the meetings, they look at the state of Covax and the buying challenges at the moment.

– Depending on the plans, delivery will take place. Towards the end of the year, the challenges in some countries will be getting vaccinated quickly enough, so that you avoid having to throw out old doses.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store recalls in recent days: “No one is safe until everyone is safe.” In the state budget, $2 billion has been added to the global pandemic management and central rotating bodies are located in it.

Experiments with different waves of infection show that there is no magic cure here. The important thing going forward is to put in place a set of measures that do not complicate the entire social mechanism. Some developing countries are facing significant challenges in terms of lockdown. It is a crisis that collapses the economy and society.

We should expect new viruses to emerge, says Röttingen.

– Therefore, we must have the ability over time to maintain measures at a level that allows communities to move around. Thus, adequate vaccination in all countries is a necessary priority.