Covid jabs pass 10 billion worldwide but milestone is not what it seems

Many scientists were unsure if it would ever be possible to make a vaccine against Covid, but now, more than 13 months after the first jab was administered, a total of 10 billion doses have been rolled out across the globe.

It is a significant milestone to have reached – one that points to the power and progress of science at a time of uncertainty, fear, and unimaginable collective loss.

Without the vaccines to hand, it is uncomfortable to imagine what kind of future the world would be facing, especially given the clear and frightening ability of the Covid virus to continue evolving into dangerous variants.

But the reality is that while many parts of the world can start to envision a life after Covid-19 thanks to the availability of the vaccines, the pandemic remains far from over for the 3 billion people who remain unvaccinated.

Vaccine inequality, the hoarding of supplies and the refusal to share the blueprints behind these life-saving tools have divided the world into the haves and the have-nots.

Had a different approach been adopted, the entire global population – 7.9 billion people – could have been vaccinated with a single dose by now. A further 2.1 billion individuals would also have received their second dose.

Yet, instead, those 10 billion doses have been shared out among the wealthiest nations in the world, while some of the poorest countries – such as Haiti, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo – have not yet even vaccinated 1 per cent of their population.

Indeed, more boosters have been delivered in rich countries than the total number of all doses administered so far in poorer nations.

The gulf between the west and the global south is only like to grow wider in the months to come as those wealthier societies start to move on from pandemic and look to carve out a new path in their post-Covid world.

In contrast, the unvaccinated nations that are forced to keep fire-fighting against outbreaks and repeated waves will find themselves further cut adrift from the rest of the world, their healthcare systems overwhelmed, economies in stasis and day-to-day life on pause.

To step back and take a broader perspective on the matter, the failure to equally roll out the vaccines also threatens the world as a whole and the progress it has made in tackling Covid-19.

Earlier this week, more than 300 prominent scientists and public experts wrote to the UK government warning that the failure to prioritise and better support efforts to vaccinate the world was risking the emergence of a new variant that could prolong the pandemic.

The experts warned that allowing large numbers of people in low- and middle-income countries to go unvaccinated is “a reckless approach to public health”.

That 13 members of the government’s own Sage committee and sub-committees signed the letter just goes to show how urgent an issue this is.

Lord Crisp, former chief executive of NHS England and another expert who put his name to the letter, said: “The scientific evidence has been clear since the start of the pandemic that the best way to keep ourselves safe from new variants is to vaccinate the world.

“However laudable donations of vaccines might be, they will never be enough to end the pandemic. There is untapped manufacturing capacity in the very nations that need vaccines and treatments most. For the sake of people’s lives in those countries and our own, we must use it.”

Distributing doses fairly, sharing vaccine blueprints between manufactures and ramping up production in those countries with the ability to do so should be the main priority for the world right now. The UK and the rest of the west have a responsibility to lead on this.