Husna, Amity University Kolkata
Stockpiling of the vaccines and vaccine nationalism:
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a serious public health concern. It has an incredibly high spreading rate. Hence, the detection and neutralization of the COVID-19 are of utmost importance. The only way to beat the COVID-19 pandemic is via universal vaccination against Covid-19. However, the issuance of COVID-19 vaccines among different countries has inclined towards vaccine nationalism, i.e., countries pile up vaccines to prioritize access in terms of their citizenry rather than equally distributing the vaccine.
A recent study (2021):
According to a recent study published in the journal Science by Princeton University and McGill University, the extent of vaccine nationalism and stockpiling the vaccines might have a strong impact on global trajectories of COVID-19 cases which would further increase the chances of emergence of new variants.
From the observation, it is evident that countries like Peru and South Africa despite having severe COVID-19 outbreaks received few vaccines, while many doses have been distributed to countries that had relatively lighter pandemic impacts, both, in terms of mortality as well as an economic dislocation. Regions with high access to vaccines reported a severe reduction in the Covid cases but there was a rise in infections in the areas with low availability of vaccines. The researchers conducted a study of two model regions, a high-access region (HAR and a low-access region (LAR) based on the emergence of COVID-19 cases under a range of vaccine dosing regimes, vaccination rates, and immune responses. They assessed the impact on the Covid-19 pandemic by considering immunological parameters, regional characteristics such as population size and local transmission rate, and vaccine distribution.
Results of the study:
- In the low-access regions, there was a reduction in the cases when vaccine-sharing was increased.
- In the unvaccinated populations, cases were high and the low access region was associated with higher numbers of hospitalizations, and larger clinical burdens compared to highly vaccinated populations.
Significance of the study:
- The cause behind the emergence of new strains and viral evolution is strongly contributed not only via secondary infections in the individuals who have previously been infected but also due to limited vaccine availability.
- As the pandemic progresses, the evolution of viral strains might also contribute largely to assist transmission rates among individuals.
- It was also noted that the timing of sharing vaccines is also likely to be critical because sharing in parallel makes the greatest impact, not in sequence.
Hence, this study strongly supports the fact that unequal vaccine distribution by stockpiling vaccines in some countries has weakened the overall global health. Global coverage of vaccinations would not only reduce the clinical burden from existing variants but would also decrease the likelihood of the emergence of new variants. Hence, this study strongly supports the fact that unequal vaccine distribution by stockpiling vaccines in some countries has weakened the overall global health.
Also read: CoCoA diff-Gene expression analysis method
Reference:
- Wagner, C. E., Saad-Roy, C. M., Morris, S. E., Baker, R. E., Mina, M. J., Farrar, J., Holmes, E. C., Pybus, O. G., Graham, A. L., Emanuel, E. J., Levin, S. A., Metcalf, C. J. E., & Grenfell, B. T. (2021). Vaccine nationalism and the dynamics and control of SARS-CoV-2. Science, e. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj7364
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Author info:
Husna is a final year student of BTech Biotechnology at Amity University Kolkata. She is a research enthusiast in Immunology and Immunotherapy but she has a keen interest in various other Bioscience subjects as well. She is constantly focused on improving her knowledge and laboratory skills through various internships. She is a Scientific content writer who has knowledge in diverse backgrounds of Biotechnology.
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