Does the World Still Need New Covid-19 Vaccines?

Although there was a global shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, by mid 2022, the vaccine supply will no longer be a limiting factor in efforts to provide more equitable coverage. As of April 19, 2022, approximately 11.5 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally.(1) Scaling up manufacturing capacity for currently available vaccines at the speed promised by vaccine producers through the COVAX (Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access) program and beyond should secure the coverage target projected by the World Health Organization (WHO) for 70% of the world population by mid 2022.(2) So why do we still need new Covid-19 . . .

Automated summary

Although there was a global shortage of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, by mid 2022, vaccine supply will no longer be a limiting factor in achieving more equitable coverage. Efforts to scale up manufacturing capacity through the COVAX program and other means are projected to meet the World Health Organization's target of vaccinating 70% of the global population by mid 2022.