The Reality of Rolling Out Covid-19 Vaccines

The latest phase of the Covid-19 pandemic response has exposed a wide chasm between high-income and lower-income countries, as some states race ahead in their Covid-19 vaccination campaigns while others have yet to begin. As the global vaccination effort contends with supply shocks and geopolitical challenges, national health leaders must confront a reality of scarce resources, surging caseloads in some areas, and pandemic fatigue. How have lower- and lower-middle income countries approached this unprecedented immunization campaign, and what are the prospects for the next phase of the rollout as supply is scaled up? How can the needs and challenges lower- and lower-middle income countries are facing be better addressed in efforts to achieve more equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines?

Please join the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security on Monday, June 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. EDT for an online event focused on lower- and lower-middle income country experiences preparing for and delivering Covid-19 vaccines. The event will begin with keynote remarks from Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, who will be introduced by John J. Hamre, CSIS President, CEO, and Langone Chair in American Leadership. Ms. Fore will then be joined by a panel of international experts including Charles Akataobi, Epidemiologist/Field Coordinator with the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), Nigeria; Martha Ngoe, Bureau Chief for International Vaccination and Travel Medicine and Sub-National Surveillance Officer, South-West Region, Ministry of Public Health, Cameroon; and Shyam Raj Upreti, Coordinator of the COVID-19 Vaccine Expert Advisory Committee in the Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal, who will discuss their countries’ current efforts in rolling out Covid-19 vaccines in a conversation moderated by CSIS Global Health Policy Center Senior Fellow Katherine E. Bliss.