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The race to vaccinate the world’s population against Covid-19 turns into a high-stakes competition, as governments scramble to get the few doses available from Western pharmaceutical companies and Russia and China scramble to fill the void.
The result is a piecemeal global vaccination campaign that is likely to unfold at very different speeds. For most people around the world, a vaccine will remain a distant hope for several months, and it may be years before the poorest countries cover their populations. Therefore, governments may need to roll out alternatives such as widespread testing and smarter social distancing restrictions in order to contain the spread of the virus, global public health experts have said.
“When we talk about the global vaccine race, there are still many more questions than answers,” said Syra Madad, senior director of the Health and Hospitals Corporation of New York. “I don’t think it will be enough to get us out of the pandemic.… If the question is: is a vaccine an exit strategy? It’s part of an exit strategy. “
Europe and America have dozens of different and competing bilateral deals with drug makers, but initial supplies will be limited, forcing tough choices at least in the first quarter of next year.
This week, the UK’s clearance of the first Western vaccine has given hope that other prominent Western candidates may soon cross the finish line. But leading candidates are using new viral RNA technology that is difficult to scale. Whether and when the US and EU will be able to vaccinate the majority of their populations will depend in part on whether other vaccines – which use more traditional platforms – prove to be successful. safe and effective.
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