political conversations about who gets a covid booster shot are often framed as a debate: should people in wealthy countries like canada get added protection, or should first doses be delivered to low-income countries with limited vaccine access instead?it’s strange to be considering a third vaccination when so much of the world remains unvaccinated, and while the virus continues to mutate. but feeling badly about being able to access a booster — turning it down, even — will do nothing to help those who haven’t even had their first, says monique lanoix, a bioethicist and philosophy professor at saint paul university in ottawa.“that’s actually a false dichotomy,” she says. “if you and i were to not get booster shots, it’s not as if they would go to african countries where they’re needed. the issue is far more complex.”in fact, while refusing to get a third vaccine dose may feel like a way to support those in the world without access, lanoix says it is actually the governments around the globe that hold the power to ensure that no one is left behind — a responsibility that requires the pressure of the public by advocating for change with their support and voices, not by turning down a booster shot.
we live with ‘vaccine apartheid’: who
there’s no question that the more people around the world who are vaccinated, the better chance there is to slow the spread — and mutation — of the virus.“if everyone is vaccinated, eventually infections drop to zero and so do variants,“ dr. purvi parikh, an allergist and immunologist in new york,
told healthline. “but if the virus has an easy host, such as an unvaccinated individual, then it is easy for it to mutate into a more contagious and virulent form.”the most recent iteration, omicron, is “a natural consequence of being too slow to vaccinate the world,” university of southampton senior research fellow in global health michael head
told cnn. “we still have large unvaccinated populations, like we have across sub-saharan africa, and these are susceptible to big outbreaks.”as of this july, according to the journal nature,
80 per cent of the 3.2 billion doses that have been administered globally have gone to people in “high-income and upper-middle-income countries,” including canada, the u.s., the u.k., spain, portugal, south korea, china, and the united arab emirates.and while vaccination rates in those countries range from about 60 per cent (in the u.s.) to 98 per cent (the u.a.e), numbers in lower-income countries are considerably lower. the entire continent of africa, for example — with 1.3 billion people — has only a 7.8 per cent vaccination rate. that average is driven up by remote, wealthy areas like seychelles and mauritius, which have very high vaccination numbers. in south africa, the continent’s country with the highest incidence of covid cases, there’s a 42 per cent vaccination rate, while in kenya and nigeria, it’s six and 1.8 per cent, respectively. and as infections in those countries continue to rise, it’s estimated that
six out of every seven cases in the continent aren’t even being detected. tedros adhanom ghebreyesus, director general of the who, went so far as to call the global situation “
vaccine apartheid.”
canada’s commitment to access
in a bid to support a global effort to fight the pandemic, canada has donated 87 million vaccine doses intended for low- and middle-income countries, committing to a total of 200 million by the end of 2022.“canada understands that we don’t end this pandemic anywhere until we end it everywhere,” said prime minister justin trudeau, as part of
global citizen’s vax live event in may, which aimed to promote vaccine equity. “we will continue to step up, because canada knows we need to be there for each other.”