The Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity

Context: The Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity has put out recent data that justifies the vexatious core of the vaccine distribution programme.

About Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity:

• It is a joint effort by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the University of Oxford with cooperation across the UN system.
• Only one in four people has been vaccinated with at least one dose in low and middle income countries.
• In comparison, in high income countries, three in four people have got at least one dose of the vaccine.
• 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 illustrate why accelerating vaccine equity is not only critical to saving lives but also to driving a faster and fairer recovery from the pandemic with benefits for all.
• Everyone in the world has the same access to vaccines.
• While the availability of drugs across the world continues to remain iniquitous, disadvantaging large swathes of people in low and middle income countries.

The Dashboard also points out another key factor:

• While vaccination programmes will increase healthcare costs across all countries, it is especially the case in low-income countries as they would need to increase their health expenditure by a staggering 30-60% to reach 70% of their population under the current pricing.
• High-income countries are expected to increase theirs by only 0.8% to achieve the same vaccination rate in one year.

Efforts taken to reduce vaccine inequity:

• A waiver in the TRIPS agreement was proposed as a radical way to overcome the anticipated shortfalls.
• The COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership (COVAX), a collective international effort was launched by WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi and the World Bank, to intensify country readiness and delivery support.
• It aimed at accelerating COVID-19 vaccination coverage in 34 low coverage countries, along with their governments.

Source: The Hindu

Previous Year Question

Q.1) In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements:

1. The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using mRNA platform.
2. Sputnik V vaccine is manufactured using vector based platform.
3. COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen based vaccine.

Which of the statements given above are correct? (2022)

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3