As many countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom continue their vaccination campaigns and move closer to becoming post-Covid societies, it becomes clearer how stark the divide between developed and developing nations is, and how COVID-19 is no longer an equal threat to everyone, but instead a something that developed nations no longer need to worry about, while the rest of the world is left to suffer.
With nearly 90% of all adults in the United Kingdom having received at least a first dose and 71% of adults in the United States having received a first dose, international borders opening worldwide and the UK officially easing almost all restrictions caused by COVID-19, much of the developed world has begun to enter a post-pandemic society. However, while the developed world has begun easing restrictions, the emergence of the new Delta variant led India to experience its devastating second wave in April and May this year that left an estimated death toll of four million, alongside rapidly rising cases in other parts of Asia such as Malaysia, Bangladesh and Thailand. The Delta variant has also begun rapidly spreading throughout the developed world, but widespread vaccination has meant that the death tolls have been extremely low, with the UK’s case-to-death ratio being nearly zero. In comparison, the death rate in countries with lower vaccination rates has spiked along with infection rates, with Indonesia surpassing 100,000 official COVID-19 related deaths as of August 4, 2021, making it only the second country in Asia to surpass this milestone.
The huge difference in death rates between these countries is correlated to their vaccination rates, with only 9.3% of Indonesia’s population being fully vaccinated. Neighbouring Malaysia has a comparatively higher vaccination rate when compared to other Southeast Asian nations with 22.5% of the population fully vaccinated, but this is still significantly lower than vaccination rates in developed nations. A key factor of the difference in vaccination rates is the availability of vaccines, with developed nations such as European states and the US having surpluses in the tens of millions while developing nations such as those in Asia have nowhere near the necessary supply of vaccines to increase their vaccination rates, even in countries that produce vaccines such as South Korea and India.
As the number of Delta variant cases rise, developed nations such as the US have begun considering administering third doses or “booster shots” to prevent the spread of the highly infectious variant, with Germany, France and Israel already administering booster shots. In contrast, vaccine shipments to Asian nations have been reduced, with Moderna halving their August shipment to South Korea, citing production issues, forcing the South Korean government to extend the period between vaccine doses from four to six weeks. While developed nations are already administering booster shots and third doses, the African Union’s current goal is to have 10% of the continent fully vaccinated by the end of the year, with only 1.7% of the continent’s population currently being fully vaccinated. When compared to the vaccination rates of countries such as the UK and other European and North American states, the contrast in availability and supply of vaccines is glaring. This has been reflected in the death rate as well, with the average African death rate being 2.6%, 0.4% higher than the world average of 2.2%. South Africa is in the top five countries worldwide that have been hit hardest by COVID-19, yet only 6.1% of the population has been fully vaccinated and only 12% has received a first dose.
The importance of vaccinating cannot be understated, and it would be the most effective way to reduce death and infection rates in hard-hit countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and South Africa, as many people are not able to isolate. Social distancing is a privilege in many low and low-middle income countries, and being able to stay home without working, or even have a separate home to stay in, is a luxury that many do not have. While vaccines are slowly getting distributed, with the UK set to donate 9 million doses of the Oxford-based AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 600,000 will go directly to Indonesia, and the US also donating 8 million doses to Indonesia, this is nowhere near enough to kickstart their vaccination drive, given their 270-million strong population and extremely high infection rates.
The failure to provide and share vaccines equitably is not just a failure of developed nations, but it is something their governments have chosen to do. The UK has ordered 467 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of their plan to administer booster shots to fight the Delta variant, though only 95 million doses are needed to fill the expected demand, and if 80% of the population opts to take a booster shot 210 million doses would still remain. 1.1 million people in the US have already received unauthorised third booster shots, though the FDA is set to approve them very soon. Many countries who signed up to join the WHO’s Covax initiative which aimed to vaccinate 20% of poorer countries’ populations but is unlikely to be able to do so after its primary manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, stopped all vaccine exports to address India’s own devastating second wave from April onwards. Most of the hardest-hit countries are primarily relying on private or bilateral vaccine donations, with more than half of Africa’s vaccines being given through private donations.
By hoarding vaccines, the developed world has made it clear to other countries that fighting the global pandemic is not a global effort, and that they are leaving those who need help and supplies now more than ever to find solutions on their own. The narrative that the Delta variant is affecting the world equally does not hold true when looking at the sheer difference in death tolls between countries where the majority have been vaccinated such as the UK and countries where many have been unable to get a first dose such as Indonesia, the current worldwide epicentre for the disease. Initiatives to fairly and equitably distribute vaccines have so far been failures, and until significant changes are made to the way developed countries hoard and distribute vaccines, it is unlikely that there will be any relief for the rest of the world in the near future.
