GLOBAL VACCINATION INEQUALITY AND THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT THIS IN THE CONTEXT OF COVID-19

Year 2022, Volume: 25 Issue: 1, 17 - 28, 25.03.2022

Berke Akkaya

Abstract

COVID-19, a disease caused by the new type of coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, was initially isolated in Wuhan, but later on, other cases emerged in Japan, South Korea and Thailand along with China. At the end of January 2020, Italy announced that the first case of COVID-19 was detected. Thus, attempts to isolate the virus failed and the virus began to spread around the world, causing a global epidemic. Within the framework of the global actions required to prevent and slow down the transmission of COVID-19 many scientists from different countries have achieved astonishing scientific success by developing several safe and effective vaccines in less than a year after this virus was isolated and sequenced. In early 2021, more than 30 million doses of vaccine have been administered, but global vaccination practice has exposed obvious disparities in access to this life-saving vaccine. To investigate the success of global vaccination programs and to reveal what factors affect these programs, the global vaccination dataset and the dataset provided by the United Nations were combined and analyzed. In addition, it was aimed to explore the effects of political, economic, and demographic factors on the vaccination program. When the dataset was analyzed in the context of vaccines, it was observed that 40 countries tend to use one type of vaccine while 27 countries are using two or more vaccines. Looking at the factors that affect the vaccination programs; it has been concluded that individuals more likely to be vaccinated are the citizens from countries that are more democratically transparent and have higher GDP per capita and total health expenditure (as a percentage of GDP). Besides, it has been observed that citizens from countries with an approved vaccine developer are also more likely to be vaccinated.

Keywords

COVID-19, Health Policies, Vaccination, Vaccine Inequality

Supporting Institution

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Project Number

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Thanks

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KÜRESEL AŞI EŞİTSİZLİĞİ VE COVID-19 BAĞLAMINDA BU EŞİTSİZLİĞİ ETKİLEYEN FAKTÖRLER

Abstract

2019 yılının sonunda Çin'in Wuhan kentinde ortaya çıkan yeni tip korona virüsünün sebep olduğu bir
hastalık olan COVID-19 önceleri Wuhan kentinde izole edilmiş fakat sonrasında Çin'in beraberinde Japonya,
Güney Kore ve Tayland'da başka vakalar ortaya çıkmıştır. 2020 Ocak ayının sonlarında ise İtalya ilk COVID-19
vakasının tespit edildiğini duyurmuştur. Böylelikle virüsü izole etme girişimleri başarılı olamayıp virüs tüm
dünyaya yayılmaya başlayarak küresel bir salgına neden olmuştur. COVID-19'un bulaşmasını önlemek ve
yavaşlatmak için gereken küresel eylemleri artırmak için, farklı ülkelerden birçok bilim insanı, bu virüsün izole
edilip dizinlemesinden sonra bir yıldan kısa bir süre içinde birkaç güvenli ve etkili aşı geliştirerek şaşırtıcı bir
bilimsel başarı elde etmişlerdir. 2021 yılının başlarında, 30 milyondan fazla aşı dozu uygulanmıştır ancak
küresel aşı uygulaması, bu hayat kurtarıcı aşıya erişimde bariz eşitsizlikleri ortaya çıkarmıştır. Küresel çapta
aşılama programlarının başarısını keşfetmek ve bu aşılama programlarını hangi faktörlerin etkilediğini ortaya
çıkarmak amacıyla küresel aşılama veri seti ile Birleşmiş Milletler tarafından sunulan veri seti birleştirilerek
analiz edilmiştir. Bununla birlikte politik, ekonomik ve demografik faktörlerin aşılama programı üzerindeki
etkilerinin keşfedilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Tüm bu uygulamalar sonucunda kullanılan aşılar bağlamında veri seti
incelendiğinde 40 ülkenin tek aşı tipini kullanma eğiliminde olduğu ve 27 ülkenin ise iki veya daha fazla aşı
kullandığı görülmüştür. Aynı zamanda, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nin, aşılama aşaması fark etmeksizin daha
fazla kişinin aşı olduğu ülke iken İsrail ise tüm nüfustan yüzde olarak daha fazla kişinin aşı olduğu ülke
olmuştur. Aşılama programlarını etkileyen faktörlere bakıldığında; aşı olma olasılığı daha yüksek olan
bireylerin, demokratik olarak daha şeffaf olan ve aynı zamanda kişi başına GSYİH ve toplam sağlık harcaması
(GSYİH yüzdesi) daha yüksek olan ülkelerin vatandaşları olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır. Aynı zamanda, onaylı aşı
geliştiricisi bulunan ülkelerin vatandaşlarının da aşı olma ihtimalinin daha yüksek olduğu görülmüştür.

Keywords

Aşı Eşitsizliği, Aşılama, COVID-19, Sağlık Politikaları

Project Number

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