TY - JOUR T1 - Viewpoint: vaccine inequity in the spotlight JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood JO - Arch Dis Child DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2021-322940 SP - archdischild-2021-322940 AU - Mustapha Bittaye AU - Effua Usuf AU - Ed Clarke Y1 - 2021/10/07 UR - http://adc.bmj.com/content/early/2021/10/06/archdischild-2021-322940.abstract N2 - Vaccine inequity has never before been in the public eye as it has been in the last months. The profound inequities in COVID-19 vaccine supply which have been allowed to develop, driven largely by perceived national self-interest, reached the world stage at the G7 meeting in June. Despite this, less than 2% of the population of many low-income African countries have been vaccinated against COVID-19, while more than half of those living in most high-income settings have received at least one, and in many case two vaccine doses. An increasing number of countries are now vaccinating children from the age of 12, despite risk–benefit analysis being less certain, and are stock-piling vaccines for booster immunisations, in the absence of indication that these will be required on widespread basis. Both approaches are in direct conflict with the current position of the WHO.The primary arguments that have been put forward to address these inequities have focused on self-protection (‘Nobody is safe until everybody is safe’) and on ensuring global economic recovery. An expectation that counties will donate ‘surplus’ vaccines has also largely replaced the premise of vaccine equity. Although it may be that only arguments appealing ultimately to national self-interest have the necessary traction, they are largely specific to pandemic COVID-19 vaccination, thus do not put the current inequalities in their … ER -