Version 1
: Received: 5 April 2024 / Approved: 5 April 2024 / Online: 8 April 2024 (08:50:47 CEST)
How to cite:
Khetrapal, S.; Bhatia, R. COVID-19 Vaccination in South Asia –Challenges Faced, and Lessons Learnt. Preprints2024, 2024040451. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0451.v1
Khetrapal, S.; Bhatia, R. COVID-19 Vaccination in South Asia –Challenges Faced, and Lessons Learnt. Preprints 2024, 2024040451. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0451.v1
Khetrapal, S.; Bhatia, R. COVID-19 Vaccination in South Asia –Challenges Faced, and Lessons Learnt. Preprints2024, 2024040451. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0451.v1
APA Style
Khetrapal, S., & Bhatia, R. (2024). COVID-19 Vaccination in South Asia –Challenges Faced, and Lessons Learnt. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0451.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Khetrapal, S. and Rajesh Bhatia. 2024 "COVID-19 Vaccination in South Asia –Challenges Faced, and Lessons Learnt" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202404.0451.v1
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected seven South Asian countries because of rampaging virus and weak health system response. Vaccination commenced in all countries during early 2021, once the vaccines became available in the international market. Vaccines were donated by international development partners, friendly countries and procured utilizing domestic resources and financial support from various agencies. All countries opted for a phasing of the vaccination by prioritizing high risk populations which included health care personnel, front line workers and elderly with comorbidities. Seven vaccines that had WHO emergency authorization usage were utilized in South Asia. India produced more than 2.4 billion doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and has indigenously developed five COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine inequity was obvious and characterized by fewer people in South Asia vaccinated with single dose vis a vis the developed countries. Vaccine hesitancy was another obstacle that kept the vaccination rates low. Difficult to reach areas in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal could not fully access vaccines. South Asian countries need to strengthen their health system for efficient deployment of vaccines in future health emergencies. At the same time the global agencies and developed countries must address the issue of vaccine access to low-income countries to mitigate the impact of pandemic all over the world.
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19 vaccine; vaccine access; South Asia; vaccine hesitancy
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
