December 23, 2021
The rapid spread of the omicron variant could be a major setback for efforts to reverse sharp inequality in the accessibility of effective coronavirus vaccines around the world, public health experts warn.
That could mean longer delays for vaccination programs in poor countries, leaving large populations unprotected and prolonging the circumstances under which experts say dangerous variants are most likely to emerge.
A subsequent increase in demand for mRNA vaccines and booster doses, which appear to offer the best protection against omicron, would drive a widening of the divide, as rich countries accrue more doses and poor ones continue to go without or face long delays and uncertainty.
After a global run on doses, logistics have supplanted availability as the chief obstacle to vaccinating the world’s neediest, World Health Organization vaccine director Kate O’Brien told The Washington Post earlier this month. But omicron could bring availability problems soaring back, experts fear.
Read more at The Washington Post.