ArticleBMJ open2021
Global access to COVID-19 vaccines: a scoping review of factors that may influence equitable access for low and middle-income countries.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 vaccination: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Pooled it
- Hydroxychloroquine for Non-Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2023Pooled it
- Article
- Exploring the correlates of COVID-19 vaccination inequity: a global analysis using machine learning from a health economic lens.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Overcoming barriers to medical countermeasures: Strengthening global biosecurity.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Review
- Research ethics and integrity challenges in accelerated clinical trials, an interview study.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
- Bridging innovation and policy: comparative pathways of national vaccine development in low- and middle-income countries.Osong public health and research perspectives · 2025Article
- Manipulating the delivery and immunogenicity of DNA vaccines through the addition of CB[8] to cationic polymers.Molecular therapy. Nucleic acids · 2025Article
- The COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout in Tanzania: The Role of Coordination in Its Success.Vaccines · 2025Article
- Decision-making under epistemic, strategic and institutional uncertainty during COVID-19: findings from a six-country empirical study.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Lessons learnt in the response to COVID-19 in Mozambique: enabling readiness for the next pandemic.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review of Factors Affecting COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake and Deployment in Global Healthcare Systems.Vaccines · 2024Article
- COVID-19 Vaccination and Public Health: Addressing Global, Regional, and Within-Country Inequalities.Vaccines · 2024Review
- COVAX and COVID-19 Vaccine Inequity: A case study of G-20 and African Union.Public health challenges · 2024Article
- Which roads lead to access? A global landscape of six COVID-19 vaccine innovation models.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- Article
- Combination of spironolactone and sitagliptin improves clinical outcomes of outpatients with COVID-19: a prospective cohort study.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2024Observational
- A qualitative inquiry on drivers of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among adults in Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- COVID-19 vaccine intercountry distribution inequality and its underlying factors: a combined concentration index analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Vaccine inequity: a threat to Africa's recovery from COVID-19.Tropical medicine and health · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo identify the factors contributing to equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for low and middle-income countries (LMIC).
methodsWe conducted a scoping review following the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews and a five-stage framework for scoping studies. We performed systematic searches for published peer-reviewed literature in five databases: Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Global Index Medicus and COVID-19 Evidence Epistemonikos (August 2020, updated May 2021).
resultsSystematic selection according to predefined criteria resulted in the final inclusion of 45 peer-reviewed articles, with no limitations on study design or publication type. We derived four key factors that potentially influence equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in LMICs: (1) collectively agreed global mechanisms or frameworks; (2) bilateral purchasing, contracting, and vaccine prices; (3) vaccine manufacturing that is supported by sharing know-how; and (4) countries' strength in implementing vaccination programmes.
conclusionsThis scoping review highlights the ongoing challenges for the international community in ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for LMICs. The literature suggests that vaccine manufacturing can influence the supply of vaccines, as can the role of patent holders who can influence global governance through their role in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings indicate that including the principles of equitable access throughout vaccine research and development, procurement, scale-up and distribution processes can support equitable access for LMICs. Advances made with mRNA vaccines may have additional benefits in relation to expanding the manufacturing of other vaccine. Finally, the exploration and scale-up of such capacities of LMICs are likely to prove to be a valuable investment, even after the pandemic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.