COVID-19 Pandemic and Equal Access to Vaccines

The COVID-19 pandemic has evidenced the chronic inequality that exists between populations and communities as regards global healthcare. Vaccination, an appropriate tool for the prevention of infection, should be guaranteed by means of proportionate interventions to defeat such inequality in populat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vaccines (Basel) 2021-05, Vol.9 (6), p.538
Main Authors: Bolcato, Matteo, Rodriguez, Daniele, Feola, Alessandro, Di Mizio, Giulio, Bonsignore, Alessandro, Ciliberti, Rosagemma, Tettamanti, Camilla, Trabucco Aurilio, Marco, Aprile, Anna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioethics
Coronaviruses
COVAX
COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines
Disease transmission
Distributive justice
Equity
Global health
Health care policy
Health risks
Immunization
Inequality
Infections
Nationalism
Pandemics
Parameter identification
Political power
Population
Populations
public health
Socioeconomic factors
vaccination
Vaccines
World population
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has evidenced the chronic inequality that exists between populations and communities as regards global healthcare. Vaccination, an appropriate tool for the prevention of infection, should be guaranteed by means of proportionate interventions to defeat such inequality in populations and communities affected by a higher risk of infection. Equitable criteria of justice should be identified and applied with respect to access to vaccination and to the order in which it should be administered. This article analyzes, as regards the worldwide distribution of anti-COVID-19 vaccines, the various ways the principle of equity has been construed and applied or even overlooked. The main obstacle to equal access to vaccines is vaccine nationalism. The perception of equity varies with the differing reference values adopted. Adequate response to needs appears to be the principal rule for achieving the criterion of equity in line with distributive justice. Priorities must be set equitably based on rational parameters in accordance with current needs. The entire process must be governed by transparency, from parameter identification to implementation. The issue of equal access to vaccination affects the entire world population, necessitating specific protective interventions. In light of this, the World Health Organization (WHO) has devised the COVAX plan to ensure that even the poorest nations of the world receive the vaccine; certain initiatives are also supported by the European Union (EU). This pandemic has brought to the fore the need to build a culture of equitable relationships both in each country’s own domain and with the rest of the world.
ISSN:2076-393X
2076-393X
DOI:10.3390/vaccines9060538