Wealthy Countries Secure COVID-19 Vaccines... "90% of Low-Income Countries Including Bukhan Unable to Access"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] An analysis has revealed that 90% of the population in low-income countries such as North Korea, Nigeria, and Ethiopia will not receive the COVID-19 vaccine by next year. This is because advanced countries have preemptively secured vaccines, leaving no supply for low-income countries.

According to a report published on the 9th (local time) by 'Peoples Vaccine,' only one out of ten people in 67 low-income countries, including North Korea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Myanmar, is expected to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by next year. This is based on an analysis of vaccine purchase agreements made by governments of each country.

The 67 low-income countries have not been able to individually sign vaccine purchase agreements with pharmaceutical companies as of last month. At best, they can secure vaccines only through the 'COVAX Advance Market Commitment' (COVAX AMC), which supplies vaccines to developing countries using donor funds.

In fact, 12 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macau, Israel, and Kuwait have pre-purchased 53% of vaccines from eight pharmaceutical companies. Although their population accounts for 14% of the global total, they have secured more than half of the vaccines. Canada has pre-purchased enough vaccines to vaccinate its entire population five times over.

In particular, wealthy countries have preemptively secured all of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and 96% of Moderna vaccines have been secured by wealthy countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.