Catastrophe squared: COVID-19 vaccine inequity in humanitarian crises

Simran Chahal

doi:10.21153/thl2022art1634

Authors

Simran Chahal The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21153/thl2022art1634

Keywords:

COVID-19, vaccine, inequity, global health

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused physical, social, and economic devastation all around the world. While more manageable case numbers and immunisation efforts seem to indicate that the world has come a long way in controlling the virus, there is great inequity in vaccination numbers around the world. Low-income countries have only received 14 doses per 100 people—13-fold lower than the 182 doses per 100 people in upper-middle income and high-income countries. This paper highlights the disparity of COVID-19 vaccination rates in high-income countries versus those afflicted with crises and raises the need for linking pandemic response with humanitarian assistance.

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Author Biography

Simran Chahal, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity

Simran is a Project Administrator at the University of Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. Since completing her Master of Humanitarian Assistance at Deakin University’s Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, she has been working in the medical research sector to link public health and disease response, as part of teams working on Poliomyelitis, COVID-19, and sexually transmitted infections.

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