Dear John,

Tomorrow, we have an exciting meeting of Health Affairs Insider Journal Club.

On December 19, please join author Ashley Fox, an associate professor at the University at Albany, SUNY, for a detailed discussion on her paper about the substantial disparities in COVID-19 vaccine uptakes and unmet immunization demands in low- and middle-income countries.

Global Disparities in Vaccine Uptake

In the December issue of Health Affairs, Ashley Fox and coauthors examine disparities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake in low- and middle-income countries.

The authors examine the extent to which constrained accessibility and vaccine hesitancy contribute to relatively low uptake in low- and middle-income countries.

After examining survey data from ten Western Pacific countries and seven African countries, they found that of the respondents who had not been vaccinated for COVID-19, about half were not willing to get vaccinated, and half were willing, but not able to access vaccinations.

Unmet immunization demand was higher in African countries than in the Western Pacific countries examined.

Fox and coauthors determine that in several countries, unmet demand tended to decrease along with age, and was higher among female respondents.

The authors conclude that targeted efforts to increase vaccination rates are necessary.

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Expand Your Research

In connection with our new issue on Global Lessons from COVID-19, we wanted to highlight studies on COVID-19 and Systems of Care.

In an April 2023 Forefront article, authors Peter Yeo and Mark Dybul provide calming reassurances that the WHO Pandemic Accord will have low impacts on US sovereignty.

With today's featured journal article focusing on global health and health equity, the full story is just a few clicks away by exploring our archive of podcasts on these topics.

Take a look below at a few highlighted episodes:

• Research and Justice For All: How Health Equity Accreditation is Changing Health Care (September 2023)
• Health Affairs This Week: The Far-Reaching Health Care Impacts of the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Decision (July 2023)
• A Health Podyssey: Andrew Bolibol on Health Insurance Coverage Among LGBT Adults (June 2023)
• A Health Podyssey: Gillian SteelFisher on Telemedicine Industry and Patient Preferences (April 2023)