Global diversity of policy, coverage, and demand of COVID-19 vaccines: a descriptive study
This article has been Reviewed by the following groups
Listed in
- Evaluated articles (ScreenIT)
Abstract
Background
Hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have been administered globally, but progress on vaccination varies considerably between countries. We aimed to provide an overall picture of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, including policy, coverage, and demand of COVID-19 vaccines.
Methods
We conducted a descriptive study of vaccination policy and doses administered data obtained from multiple public sources as of 8 February 2022. We used these data to develop coverage indicators and explore associations of vaccine coverage with socioeconomic and healthcare-related factors. We estimated vaccine demand as numbers of doses required to complete vaccination of countries’ target populations according to their national immunization program policies.
Results
Messenger RNA and adenovirus vectored vaccines were the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccines in high-income countries, while adenovirus vectored vaccines were the most widely used vaccines worldwide (180 countries). One hundred ninety-two countries have authorized vaccines for the general public, with 40.1% (77/192) targeting individuals over 12 years and 32.3% (62/192) targeting those ≥ 5 years. Forty-eight and 151 countries have started additional-dose and booster-dose vaccination programs, respectively. Globally, there have been 162.1 doses administered per 100 individuals in target populations, with marked inter-region and inter-country heterogeneity. Completed vaccination series coverage ranged from 0.1% to more than 95.0% of country target populations, and numbers of doses administered per 100 individuals in target populations ranged from 0.2 to 308.6. Doses administered per 100 individuals in whole populations correlated with healthcare access and quality index ( R 2 = 0.59), socio-demographic index ( R 2 = 0.52), and gross domestic product per capita ( R 2 = 0.61). At least 6.4 billion doses will be required to complete interim vaccination programs—3.3 billion for primary immunization and 3.1 billion for additional/booster programs. Globally, 0.53 and 0.74 doses per individual in target populations are needed for primary immunization and additional/booster dose programs, respectively.
Conclusions
There is wide country-level disparity and inequity in COVID-19 vaccines rollout, suggesting large gaps in immunity, especially in low-income countries.
Article activity feed
-
-
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.10.25.21265504: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:There are several limitations to this study. First, all data in our study were obtained from public sources. Therefore untimely, opaque, and language-restricted data disclosure limited data completeness and prediction of subpopulation immunity. Standardizing reporting of COVID-19 vaccination and increasing data sharing and transparency …
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.10.25.21265504: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:There are several limitations to this study. First, all data in our study were obtained from public sources. Therefore untimely, opaque, and language-restricted data disclosure limited data completeness and prediction of subpopulation immunity. Standardizing reporting of COVID-19 vaccination and increasing data sharing and transparency could promote progress of the global vaccination campaign. Second, estimates of population sizes with contraindications and immunosuppressing conditions were constrained because it is difficult to determine what proportions of these populations could be vaccinated. Some countries use vaccines off label, further complicating determination of the eligible population. Third, country vaccination policy will change with more real-world evidence and experience; vaccine demand in our study reflected only the current situation. Our full picture of COVID-19 vaccination policy, coverage, and current demand in an ongoing epidemic deepens the understanding of this unprecedent vaccination effort. Disparity and inequity of vaccination rollout worldwide implies that susceptibility of unvaccinated populations in some countries may impede or reverse pandemic control, especially in the face of Delta and future variants. More countries and organizations should be involved in the global response to the pandemic, taking responsibility and providing leadership to overcome the complex challenges that lie ahead - financially, politically, and technically.
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
-
