Month: March 2022

The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. March 30, 2022 By Beth Boyer We are at a pivotal moment in the course of the pandemic and there is growing recognition that a shift in strategy is needed. In a new report released this week, the COVID GAP team calls for actions to chart a path forward for a sustainable control strategy for COVID-19. The Path Forward Our new report, The Path Forward, written in consultation with close to 50 experts from low- and middle-income countries, calls for an urgent shift in the global pandemic strategy that would rapidly change from an emergency crisis management approach to a sustainable control strategy that also helps to build resilient health systems better prepared to address future COVID-19 outbreaks and other public health threats. Driving the…

The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. March 15, 2022 By Beth Boyer and Andrea Taylor Local manufacturing capacity has been highly correlated to earlier access to life-saving health interventions, as demonstrated with COVID-19 vaccines. The concentration of COVID-19 vaccine production in high-income countries (HICs) – particularly for mRNA vaccines – contributed to the unequal distribution that continues today. Most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) had to depend on vaccine imports for their supply. There are some notable exceptions, such as India and China, where strong pre-pandemic investments in vaccine manufacturing capacity meant they were ready to produce doses at scale in 2021. But for most LMICs, reliance on vaccine shipments from other countries often meant they were at the back of the delivery queue and subject to delays from export restrictions.…