The problem

In 2021, WHO set the target for 70% global vaccination coverage by mid-2022.  As of June 2022 only 58 of WHO’s 194 Member States had  reached the 70% target and only in low-income countries, just 37% of healthcare workers had received a complete course of primary vaccination.  

The conditions to allow for all countries to achieve the global targets, meaning supply, technical support, and financial supply, are now in place. Thanks to coordination between global, regional, and bilateral vaccine suppliers and manufacturers, low and lower-middle countries can now better match the supply of vaccines arriving in country with their own country specific demand for doses.

For the first time since the pandemic began, the global supply of vaccines is not currently a binding constraint.

And while trade bottlenecks are being tackled and export restrictions are being rolled back, exports of some vaccination-related products remain restricted, indicating persistent global shortages.2 This means the overarching challenge is now vaccine delivery – getting shots into arms.

A continued, concerted and country-led push to deliver against nationally defined vaccination strategies can act in support of global targets.

The greatest benefits within that approach will come from prioritizing full vaccination and boosters for high-risk populations – older adults, healthcare workers, and persons with co-morbidities including immunocompromised persons.

The solution

Strong leadership engagement and commitment to detailed and costed vaccination plans will be essential. Momentum to vaccinate high-priority groups, like healthcare workers, over 60s and people who are immunocompromised, must be maintained.

National healthcare system capacity will need to be strengthened. Increasingly COVID-19 vaccination services will need to be integrated with other immunization services and alongside other health and social interventions for maximum impact and to build long-term capacity.

As people’s risk perception of the virus wanes, careful risk communication and community engagement plans need to be adapted to enhance demand for vaccination, and domestic and international funding needs to be coordinated, available and swift to deliver against clear country plans.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership, a collective international effort with ‘One Country Team’, ‘One Plan’, and ‘One Budget’ was launched by WHO, UNICEF, and Gavi with international partners including the World Bank to intensify country readiness and intensify delivery support. It focuses on 34 low coverage countries, with the government at the center, to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination.

Despite incremental success since its launch in January 2022, low and lower-middle income countries are facing difficulties to get a step change in vaccination rates.

This represents a serious threat to the fragile economic recovery, including due to the risk of new variants creating large waves of serious disease and death in populations with low vaccination coverage. It also means accelerating the delivery of other COVID-19 tools and treatments is a crucial priority to help the world build up multiple layers of protection against the virus. Concerted and urgent action from countries, international partners and agencies, along with G20 Finance Ministers is required to increase vaccination levels and expedite access. 

Removing obstacles to increase coverage levels and protect those at high risk