Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries

Yang Ye; Qingpeng Zhang; Xuan Wei; Zhidong Cao; Hsiang-Yu Yuan; Daniel Dajun Zeng

doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries

Yang Ye, Qingpeng Zhang^*, Xuan Wei, Zhidong Cao, Hsiang-Yu Yuan, Daniel Dajun Zeng^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

105 Citations (Scopus)

58 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Despite broad agreement on the negative consequences of vaccine inequity, the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is imbalanced. Access to vaccines in high-income countries (HICs) is far greater than in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As a result, there continue to be high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths in LMICs. In addition, recent mutant COVID-19 outbreaks may counteract advances in epidemic control and economic recovery in HICs. To explore the consequences of vaccine (in)equity in the face of evolving COVID-19 strains, we examine vaccine allocation strategies using a multistrain metapopulation model. Our results show that vaccine inequity provides only limited and short-term benefits to HICs. Sharper disparities in vaccine allocation between HICs and LMICs lead to earlier and larger outbreaks of new waves. Equitable vaccine allocation strategies, in contrast, substantially curb the spread of new strains. For HICs, making immediate and generous vaccine donations to LMICs is a practical pathway to protect everyone.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	207-216
Journal	Nature Human Behaviour
Volume	6
Online published	31 Jan 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8
Publication status	Published - Feb 2022

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (grant nos 11218221, C7154-20GF, C7151-20GF and C1143-20GF to Q.Z.), in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 71621002 and 72025404 to Z.C. and D.D.Z.), in part by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDA27030100 to Z.C. and D.D.Z.) and in part by the Health and Medical Research Fund (grant no. COVID190215 to H.-Y.Y. and Q.Z.). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access Output

10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8

94687412.pdfFinal Published version, 3.61 MBLicence: CC BY

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

@article{ac2fb9bb3719426ea5922f4c396bc7e2,

title = "Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries",

abstract = "Despite broad agreement on the negative consequences of vaccine inequity, the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is imbalanced. Access to vaccines in high-income countries (HICs) is far greater than in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As a result, there continue to be high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths in LMICs. In addition, recent mutant COVID-19 outbreaks may counteract advances in epidemic control and economic recovery in HICs. To explore the consequences of vaccine (in)equity in the face of evolving COVID-19 strains, we examine vaccine allocation strategies using a multistrain metapopulation model. Our results show that vaccine inequity provides only limited and short-term benefits to HICs. Sharper disparities in vaccine allocation between HICs and LMICs lead to earlier and larger outbreaks of new waves. Equitable vaccine allocation strategies, in contrast, substantially curb the spread of new strains. For HICs, making immediate and generous vaccine donations to LMICs is a practical pathway to protect everyone.",

author = "Yang Ye and Qingpeng Zhang and Xuan Wei and Zhidong Cao and Hsiang-Yu Yuan and Zeng, {Daniel Dajun}",

year = "2022",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

pages = "207--216",

journal = "Nature Human Behaviour",

issn = "2397-3374",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries

AU - Ye, Yang

AU - Zhang, Qingpeng

AU - Wei, Xuan

AU - Cao, Zhidong

AU - Yuan, Hsiang-Yu

AU - Zeng, Daniel Dajun

PY - 2022/2

Y1 - 2022/2

N2 - Despite broad agreement on the negative consequences of vaccine inequity, the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is imbalanced. Access to vaccines in high-income countries (HICs) is far greater than in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As a result, there continue to be high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths in LMICs. In addition, recent mutant COVID-19 outbreaks may counteract advances in epidemic control and economic recovery in HICs. To explore the consequences of vaccine (in)equity in the face of evolving COVID-19 strains, we examine vaccine allocation strategies using a multistrain metapopulation model. Our results show that vaccine inequity provides only limited and short-term benefits to HICs. Sharper disparities in vaccine allocation between HICs and LMICs lead to earlier and larger outbreaks of new waves. Equitable vaccine allocation strategies, in contrast, substantially curb the spread of new strains. For HICs, making immediate and generous vaccine donations to LMICs is a practical pathway to protect everyone.

AB - Despite broad agreement on the negative consequences of vaccine inequity, the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is imbalanced. Access to vaccines in high-income countries (HICs) is far greater than in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As a result, there continue to be high rates of COVID-19 infections and deaths in LMICs. In addition, recent mutant COVID-19 outbreaks may counteract advances in epidemic control and economic recovery in HICs. To explore the consequences of vaccine (in)equity in the face of evolving COVID-19 strains, we examine vaccine allocation strategies using a multistrain metapopulation model. Our results show that vaccine inequity provides only limited and short-term benefits to HICs. Sharper disparities in vaccine allocation between HICs and LMICs lead to earlier and larger outbreaks of new waves. Equitable vaccine allocation strategies, in contrast, substantially curb the spread of new strains. For HICs, making immediate and generous vaccine donations to LMICs is a practical pathway to protect everyone.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123951967&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85123951967&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8

DO - 10.1038/s41562-022-01289-8

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

C2 - 35102361

SN - 2397-3374

VL - 6

SP - 207

EP - 216

JO - Nature Human Behaviour

JF - Nature Human Behaviour

ER -

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

UN SDGs

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

GRF: Optimizing Interventions for Changing HIV Risk Behaviors via Temporal Link Prediction in MSM Social Networks

HMRF: Modelling of Hong Kong COVID-19 Control Strategies Considering Different Population Immunity Scenarios

Cite this

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines makes a life-saving difference to all countries

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

UN SDGs

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Projects

GRF: Optimizing Interventions for Changing HIV Risk Behaviors via Temporal Link Prediction in MSM Social Networks

HMRF: Modelling of Hong Kong COVID-19 Control Strategies Considering Different Population Immunity Scenarios

Cite this