Researchers propose new mechanism to promote access to COVID-19 vaccines

While the value of COVID-19 vaccines may seem obvious, the government’s action and investment in vaccines has not been commensurate with the enormous scale of benefits they offer, says Juan Camilo Castillo and his colleagues in this political forum.

Since even an additional month of exposure to COVID-19 kills hundreds of thousands of people, reduces global gross domestic product (GDP) by hundreds of billions of dollars, and causes heavy losses to human capital by harming the education and health, further increasing immunization capacity generate substantial global benefits.

Castillo et al. Report on the results of two related exercises: estimating the global benefits of immunization capacity already in place and estimating the benefits of undertaking additional capacity investments now.

The huge estimates from the two exercises provide a relevant red flag for the current [and future pandemics]. “

Study researchers

For example, the results suggest that investing now in expanding capacity for 1 billion additional cycles of vaccine per year could accelerate the completion of generalized immunization by more than 4 months, providing additional global benefits of 576 to $ 989 per course.

“This exceeds prices by $ 6 to $ 40 per course in agreements with vaccine producers,” they say. They urge governments and international organizations to contract with vaccine producers to further expand capacity and encourage measures – such as delayed second doses, lower dose schedules or providing people with a single dose. previously infected – to “stretch” existing capacity.

“These proposals could have significant potential benefits; therefore, it is worth considering their medical relevance,” they say. To prevent some countries from ending up with vaccine allocations that do not optimally meet their needs, the authors recommend steps that include an exchange of vaccines between countries. Such a mechanism is being explored by COVAX, a global initiative to promote access to COVID-19 vaccines.