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Long Wait

SARS-CoV-2 vaccines may not reach poorer nations, despite recent promises by richer nations to share doses, according to Nature News.

The US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China have all have pledged to send vaccine doses abroad, but Andrea Taylor from Duke Global Health Innovation Center tells Nature News that these promises likely will not translate to low-income countries getting vaccines faster. She notes that restrictions in the US and European Union on exporting vaccines and vaccine ingredients will likely slow sharing, according to Nature News, adding that export restrictions imposed by India have hindered the COVAX initiative's plan to deliver 2 billion vaccine doses by the end of the year. Taylor's group estimates that the world may be vaccinated by 2023, Nature News adds.

She and others further urge richer nations to boost vaccine dose sharing, especially as new viral variants like Delta spread, it says. "Doses shared now will be so much more impactful than doses in six months. We need wealthy countries to send doses immediately," she tells Nature News.

The Scan

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