Coronavirus: Vaccine supply outstrips demand, but poor still not getting access to jabs
- About 13 billion doses have been produced since the start of the pandemic, 11 billion administered; excess doses could go to waste due to short shelf life
- Billions of people remain unvaccinated, most of them in developing nations; ‘Vaccine inequity is the biggest moral failure of our times,’ UN chief said
After two years of racing to vaccinate the world against Covid-19, the number of available doses now surpasses demand in many areas. Yet a yawning gap remains in vaccination rates between the richest and poorest countries.
On Friday, Gavi, which co-leads the Covax global distribution scheme, is holding a summit calling for more funds to address the issue of inequality in vaccine access.
More than 13 billion doses have been produced since the pandemic, 11 billion of which have been administered, according to the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).
Science research group Airfinity expect nine billion more doses to be produced this year. Pfizer alone plans to make four billion doses.
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Yet demand could fall to six billion doses this year, IFPMA’s director general Thomas Cueni said. “Since mid-2021, global vaccine production has exceeded global vaccine demand and this gap has continuously risen,” Cueni said. By next year, production could exceed demand by 1.3 to 3.1 billion doses, he added.