The goal: at least 40% vaxxed in all nations by year-end. This map shows how we stand
What went wrong?
At year's end, that's the question being asked about the global effort to make sure that all countries get vaccines against COVID-19.
Almost as soon as the pandemic began, the world's leading health organizations joined forces to ensure an ample supply of the vaccines for all nations regardless of income level. The program they created is known as COVAX – short for the COVID-19 Global Access Facility. It was supposed to pre-purchase doses from the manufacturers while the vaccines were still being developed, and then – once the doses became available – distribute them to countries according to their need and charge according to their ability to pay, with the lowest income countries getting the doses for free.
Yet as 2021 comes to a close, and the omicron variant spreads across the globe, the vast majority of people in lower income countries remain unvaccinated.
NPR spoke with two public health leaders
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