Vaccines are our most important public health tool—but only if they are used. How they have become the most widely distributed health intervention is an important development success story. From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts recognized that vaccine access for the poorest countries would be essential to overcome the disease worldwide. While COVID saw “the fastest rollout of vaccines to developing countries ever” with millions of lives saved globally, it also saw starkly unequal access, export bans, and the rise of vaccine skepticism. What lessons should we take from this experience to improve vaccine development and access to fight other devastating diseases that still need a vaccine, to respond more effectively to threats like Marburg, Lassa fever, and Sudan ebolavirus—and make sure the world is better prepared for future pandemics?
Dr. Seth Berkley, former CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and co-founder of COVAX, has been at the heart of global vaccine policy for decades and is the author of the forthcoming book, Fair Doses: An Insider’s Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity. He joins CGD President Rachel Glennerster, who worked on vaccine policy for the UK government during the pandemic, to pull back the curtain on the extraordinary, intertwined scientific and political efforts behind vaccine development and distribution during the pandemic and draw lessons for the future.
