Vaccine Equity in Africa

Unarguably, vaccination has proven to be one of the most successful cost-effective public health interventions saving millions of people from illness, disability and death each year. Vaccine development and manufacture takes a long time, involving series of complex procedures from research to manufacture, then, approval and licensure. It was therefore an outstanding achievement for the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines within a year that the causative organism was linked to the diseases. This was owing to advancement in research and technology, and several other considerations including strong political will. Yet, as with most other vaccines for past disease outbreaks, equitable distribution, supply and access have become serious issues.