Rethinking COVID-19 vaccine allocation: it is time to care about our neighbours

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic changed nearly every aspect of our lives. The rapid spread of the disease exposed several layers of inequality that it has exploited to propagate preferentially. We find these layers in different contexts and levels, such as the impossibility to self-isolate and do remote work (at the individual level) or economic constraints to deploy a fast vaccination program (at the country level). In the context of vaccination programmes, resources must be optimised to alleviate the pandemic burden where it is needed the most.