themedicalstate:As Virus Variants Spread, ‘No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe’While more than 90
themedicalstate:As Virus Variants Spread, ‘No One Is Safe Until Everyone Is Safe’While more than 90 million people worldwide have been vaccinated, only 25 in all of sub-Saharan Africa, a region of about one billion people, have been given doses outside of drug trials, according to the World Health Organization as of January 31st, 2021.But as new variants like the one discovered in South Africa migrate to more countries — including the United States — it is becoming ever clearer that the tragedy for poorer countries could become a tragedy for every country. The more the virus spreads, and the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the greater chance it has to continue to mutate in ways that put the whole world at risk. Rich countries are buying up coronavirus vaccines, leaving poorer regions vulnerable — and as potential breeding grounds for variants, like one found in South Africa, that could make vaccines less effective.“This idea that no one is safe until everyone is safe is not just an adage, it is really true,” said Andrea Taylor, the assistant director at Duke Global Health Innovation Center.By Lynsey Chutel and Marc Santora (The New York Times) -- source link