Health experts and world leaders have given this warning. It is not enough to vaccinate people in rich nations against the coronavirus. All countries must get enough vaccines to protect all their people. “We’ve said all through this pandemic that we are not safe unless we are all safe,” said John Nkengasong. He heads the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the start of the pandemic, many poor countries with weak health care systems appeared to have avoided major problems. But that is changing. Concerns are growing in some of the world’s poorest countries as coronavirus infections increase and new versions of the virus appear. There also have been shortages of vaccine in many countries. The crisis has shocked public health officials and millions of unvaccinated people. This is especially the case in countries where people live with only enough money to survive and pay for health emergencies themselves. The United Nations supported program called COVAX aims to provide vaccines to poor countries. However, the program faces a serious shortage of vaccines. As a result, the U.S., Britain and the other rich, industrialized countries agreed to share at least 1 billion vaccine doses with poor countries over the next year. The Group of Seven nations are expected to begin sharing the vaccines in August.
