COVID-19 Vaccination Rates in Low Income Countries Remain Far Below Wealthier Countries
Globally, more than 3 in 4 people 60 years and older have received at least 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new study from MMWR. Yet large inequities in vaccination rates between high- and low-income countries persist. In wealthy countries 90% of older adults have completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccination. In lower-income countries, just 33% of older adults have been vaccinated. People aged 60 and older account for more than 80% of the world’s COVID-19 deaths, putting older adults at a much greater risk of death in low-income countries. “Because of limitations in access to vaccines in many low- and middle-income countries and limited capacity to rapidly roll out COVID-19 vaccines, middle- and low-income countries are taking longer to reach the recommended ranges for primary series and booster dose coverage as recommended by WHO and national health authorities,” the study’s authors explained.
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