Invest in local vaccine research: Gates Foundation report

A report released by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday has called for investing in local vaccine research and manufacturing capacity in lower-income countries as a means to close the alarming vaccination gap between developing and developed economies.

The report is the fifth edition of the foundation's annual Goalkeepers report that tracks global progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The report said the remarkable speed of COVID-19 vaccine development resulted from decades of research, investment and partnerships.

While hailing the unprecedented creation of high-quality vaccines, the report sends an alert on the widening disparity in vaccination coverage.

Currently, more than 80 percent of all COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in high- and upper-middle-income countries, with some securing two to three times the number of doses needed to cover their entire population, according to the report.

"The lack of equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is a public health tragedy," Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, said in a news release.

"We face the very real risk that in the future, wealthy countries and communities will begin treating COVID-19 as yet another disease of poverty. We can't put the pandemic behind us until everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to vaccines," he added.

The report points to ramping up local vaccine manufacturing and regulatory capacity via global cooperation in lower-income countries, as well as long-term commitments from local governments as some of the key tools to not only combat the raging pandemic, but also prepare for possible health emergencies in the future.

"We must invest in local partners to strengthen the capacity of researchers and manufacturers in lower-income countries to create the vaccines and medicines they need," said Mark Suzman, Gates Foundation CEO.

"The only way we will solve our greatest health challenges is by drawing on the innovation and talent of people all over the world," he added.