The Global Vaccination Campaign Against Covid Is Losing Steam

The World Health Organization began advocating an ambitious target in the middle of last year, one it believed was critical for ending the pandemic: completely vaccinate 70 percent of the population in every nation against Covid-19 by June 2022.

It is now obvious that the globe will fall well short of that goal by the deadline. And there is a growing conviction among public health experts that high Covid vaccine coverage will never be attained in most low-income countries, as much needed financing from the United States runs out and governments and donors shift their attention to other priorities.

“The fact is that there is a loss of momentum,” said Dr. Isaac Adewole, a former Nigerian health minister who now works as a consultant for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Only a few of the world’s 82 poorest nations, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, and Nepal, have achieved the 70% immunisation target. According to statistics collated from government sources by the University of Oxford’s Our World in Data project, many are under 20%.