Supply shortage behind low Covid vaccination in poor countries

Limited vaccine supplies from international sources, poor distribution systems and reluctance in getting vaccinated against the coronavirus have prevented many low and middle-income countries from ensuring adequate immunisation against the deadly virus, a study has found.

The revelations were presented by the research author Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, professor at Yale University, USA, in the first session of the second day of the annual conference of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) on Friday.

“Due to high global demand and limited supply, countries that can afford the vaccine and geopolitically important countries have received more of the corona vaccine,” Mushfiq said citing the study titled, ‘Resilience in Low and Middle Income Countries: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic’.

He said, “The pandemic has resulted in a decline in economic growth. People in low- and middle-income countries saw their incomes drop by 9 to 87 per cent. It has a negative impact on people’s quality of life.”

Countries around the world have different demographic structures, the study noted.

But, it added that some poor countries have blindly followed the approaches and activities taken by rich countries to fight the pandemic.

“Low and middle income countries have a lot to offer the world, they can help each other, they can learn from each other,” said the research paper.

International organisations such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the USA needed more data than research institutions and low and middle-income countries could provide to fight the pandemic.

Partnerships or joint ventures played a big role in this case, and government support was needed.