Steps by the U.S. and other wealthy nations to provide millions of residents a third COVID-19 vaccination in coming weeks have raised tricky questions of equity. On Aug. 4, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it was unacceptable that wealthy nations with 33 times the rate of vaccinations as poor nations would consider booster shots when billions of people have never gotten their first shots.
That framing misses a larger question: Why can’t vaccine production be sharply ramped up to generate billions of shots for people who are still unvaccinated in lower-income nations in Latin America, Africa and Asia and for those who need more protection in wealthy nations? In February, Pfizer announced it had doubled vaccine production over a single month. In April, Moderna said it was on pace to produce 3 billion shots in 2022, double its previous projection. These are scalable achievements.
Problems exist. For one, COVAX, the WHO-run program meant to ensure equitable vaccine delivery worldwide, faces a scandal after selling 500,000 vaccines to wealthy Australia. But the path forward is pretty simple: Pfizer and Moderna ramp up production and coordinate with COVAX, and watchdogs ensure the shots go where they are most needed. It’s simple, ultimately: We need more. We make more.
