Strengthening Pandemic Preparedness: Build the Vaccine Manufacturing Capacity in Low- and Middle-income Countries

Abstract

It has been over two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 virus continues to mutate and spread, causing many countries to experience multiple waves of the pandemic. Although nontherapeutic protective measures have slowed the spread of the virus and decreased case numbers, the COVID-19 vaccines are taking precedence as the leading measure of therapeutic protection against the virus. Low and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, face challenges and uncertainty regarding vaccine access, despite the growing supply of COVID-19 vaccines. This paper describes the unequal access to COVID19 vaccines, argues that vaccine nationalism and fragmented COVID-19 vaccine procurement are key reasons for the unfair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and advocates for building vaccine manufacturing capacity in LMICs and establishing South-North partnerships to improve vaccine access and prepare for future pandemics.

Citation

Zeng, W., Bajnauth, D., Jarawan, E., Ahn, H., Li, G., Cai, Y., Yang, L., & Shen, J. (2022). Strengthening pandemic preparedness: Build the vaccine manufacturing capacity in low- and middle-income countries. Public health in practice (Oxford, England), 4, 100326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhip.2022.100326