Coronavirus vaccines are widely available in the U.S., but health experts are worried about vaccination rates in parts of the world and what that could mean for the future of the current public health crisis.
The COVID-19 vaccines, which were quickly developed and given emergency use authorization in the U.S. and Europe. Some of them, like the Pfizer COVID vaccine has even been given full-approval by the Food and Drug Administration in adults.
Here’s another problem: Vaccination rates are slowing in parts of the U.S. too.
“The stagnation in vaccine uptake in our region is of serious concern,” Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director of WHO’s European region said. He was speaking to the slow uptake of COVID vaccines in parts of the world- including portions of Europe that remain largely unvaccinated.
“Now that public health and social measures are being relaxed in many countries, the public’s vaccination acceptance is crucial if we are to avoid greater transmission, more severe disease, an increase in deaths and a bigger risk that new variants of concern will emerge,” Kluge added.
Supply isn’t an issue in Europe or the U.S., but it is in other parts of the world. Health experts worry that variants like Delta will continue to pop up if large portions of populations around the world remain unvaccinated.
Global estimates indicate that just 40% of Earth’s population is vaccinated.
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