<
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/08/greed-more-than-1-million-people-globally-study-says/>
'Placing profits above people when it comes to COVID vaccination has led to an
estimated 1.3 million deaths globally and nearly 300 million additional
infections. According to new research in the journal
Nature Medicine, rich
countries that hoarded vaccines — in many cases, even trashing them — have not
only contributed to otherwise preventable deaths but also helped prolong the
pandemic and spur the emergence of mutated variants that continue to plague the
public.
Using a mathematical model crunching data from 152 different countries,
epidemiologists from the University of Warwick in Coventry, UK, charted
differences in COVID vaccine distribution from the start of the pandemic to the
end of 2021. They found that vaccine access varied drastically. Some countries
gained over 90% vaccination in adults (meaning two shots or more), while some
had coverage as low as 0.9%, with a country's level of wealth playing a key
role in this discrepancy.
"We found that greater vaccine sharing would have lowered the total global
burden of disease," the study's lead author Sam Moore and colleagues wrote.
"Our results reinforce the health message, pertinent to future pandemics, that
vaccine distribution proportional to wealth, rather than to need, may be
detrimental to all."
This uneven distribution has severe consequences not only locally but also
internationally. There have been an estimated nearly 630 million COVID
infections worldwide and more than 6.5 million deaths, according to estimates
by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, this figure may be low: Some
estimates based on excess deaths anticipate the number could actually be
between 16.5 million and 28.1 million deaths.
The WHO also estimates 12.8 billion vaccine doses have been administered, but
that hasn't been enough to considerably stop SARS-2 from surging. Each illness
gives the virus ample opportunity to reproduce, allowing for mutations that
give it new advantages against vaccines and acquired immunity. And the virus
has been mutating rapidly: A "variant soup" threatens to bear down on North
America and Europe this winter; as the virus mutates, its symptoms can change
as well, making tracking slightly more difficult.'
Via Violet Blue’s
Pandemic Roundup: November 10, 2022
https://www.patreon.com/posts/pandemic-roundup-74473054
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
