We’ve all placed a lot of hope in 2021. Humans simply need to believe in something – and a way out of the pandemic is a priority.
The rapid development of several vaccines has provided the booster shot we needed; a boost to morale, to confidence, to governments desperately trying to navigate a way out of disaster. It’s not without challenges, of course, and the UK and other countries are now facing production and distribution delays.
Governments have set ambitious targets. The BBC says that the latest tensions over supply of the Covid vaccine shows just how fragile this issue is. There is massive global demand for Covid vaccine, but limited raw materials and constraints on manufacturing.
I’m glad we’re not going to line up for this pneumatic drill inspired vaccine gun of the 1970s. Go figure what they’re smiling about, it looks like that woman is about to get some serious staples in her arm.
Humans have rolled out mass vaccination programs before, but one of the biggest challenges this time around is that all countries need it at the same time. And they can’t all afford it. There are so many layers to this very complex problem – supply and demand, ‘vaccine nationalism’, vulnerable countries being left behind. There needs to be fair global supply.
“No-one is safe until the whole world is safe.” – Nadhim Zahawi, UK vaccine minister.