Most of us have heard the news: COVID-19 vaccines will be available soon. And that means there’s light at the end of the tunnel — we might see life return to normal next year.
That is, depending on where you live in the world.
A handful of countries (including the United States) have preordered more than three billion doses of the vaccines — most of the world’s supply. That leaves billions of people in Africa, Latin America and Asia with a much longer wait.
And besides the issue of access, there are also logistical challenges in the way. Delivering COVID-19 vaccines to remote communities won’t be easy, because of how some vaccines need to be transported at extremely low temperatures.
There will be help from international health agencies, which are aiming to vaccinate 20% of the population of the 92 countries with the highest levels of poverty by the end of 2021 (starting with health care workers and people who are elderly or have underlying conditions).
But that still leaves a lot of people in line.
So, what does this mean?
It means more inequality. While some of us will be protected from COVID-19, the more vulnerable citizens of the world won’t be vaccinated for a while. As we see offices and schools reopen, and economies and health care systems get back on track, things could be difficult for much longer in low-income countries.
And if vaccinations take longer than a couple years, COVID-19 could become endemic in some communities (meaning the disease would have a constant presence there, like malaria in parts of Africa).
This is not good news for gender equality. Adolescent girls around the world are already being set back by the pandemic. They’re now at higher risk for gender-based violence, child marriage and never returning to school. If the COVID-19 crisis drags on, girls could be impacted long-term.
Girls like Cloidia, in Mozambique, who is out of school and stuck at home. Because of the drought in her community, schools were one of the few places children could find nutritious food.
“Now that I do not eat at school, everything is difficult to do because I am always hungry,” Cloidia told us. “I have to wake up early to clean the house, go fetch water far away and bathe my brothers.”
For another girl named Meghla, who lives in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh, staying healthy is tough enough as is it — the refugee camp is crowded, and clean water and soap are luxury items. And as if girls there weren’t facing enough challenges, they’re now even more susceptible to violence, trafficking, child labor and early marriage.
“I can’t sleep well now. I am always in fear and worried that my loved ones might be affected by the virus,” Meghla told us when the pandemic started. “I heard about a child marriage incident recently. I tried to stop it and informed the local authorities, but they couldn’t respond in time due to the lockdown.”
Over in Paraguay, girls like Florencia are living through an economic nightmare. Florencia lives with her grandparents, and since their business has closed because of the pandemic, they’re trying to make a living by selling face masks and growing medical plants.
“I don’t feel so good because I’m worried about the economic situation of my family and of my community,” Florencia said. “Many people no longer have a job or food to give to their children.”
How we manage the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is important — for girls, for vulnerable communities and for all of us, if we want to see COVID-19 gone for good.
In the meantime, Plan International USA is working in communities around the world, keeping girls and children healthy and fighting the setbacks from the pandemic. Because we can’t let millions of girls like Cloidia, Meghla and Florencia be left behind.