This is what it takes to deliver measles
and Ebola vaccines to remote parts of Congo.
Mobile freezers are transported onto boats
and carried by motorbikes.
The efforts were essential to control those outbreaks.
And they can teach us lessons on how to bring
the new COVID-19 vaccines to billions of people
living in isolated areas of the world.
There's lots of rivers, there's lots of jungles,
there's mountains, and there's very few paved roads.
But delivery of coronavirus shots
to these places is still months, if not years, away.
Despite record levels of infections,
many developing countries can't afford
to secure vaccines right now and will have to wait on aid.
Meanwhile, richer nations are well underway.
But the real story of what it takes to vaccinate the planet
is far from a straight shot.
Russia was the first country to give approval
to a human vaccine.
Now it's close to giving the green light
to one for domestic animals susceptible
to contracting the virus from humans.
But the country's handling of these efforts
has been widely criticized.
Its coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V,
received regulatory approval in August,
when it had only been tested on a few dozen people.
In December, Russia launched a mass vaccination campaign
before full trials had finished.
But that isn't a popular view among Russians.
Recent polls have found that more than half of the country
doesn't plan on getting the vaccine,
at least not until there's more information.
Still, doses of Sputnik V are making their way
around the world.
Just before Christmas, Argentina became the third country
to approve the treatment, after Russia and Belarus.
Governments are anxious to gain some sort of control
over the pandemic, and it turns out Sputnik V
is much cheaper than the vaccines
made by Russia's Western rivals.
The UK was the first to approve Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine
for emergency use.
Canada, the US, and the European Union
quickly followed suit.
It is a significant step forward in our fight
against this pandemic, which is causing suffering
and hardship for so many people, not just in Europe.
And all over the world,
distribution of the Pfizer vaccine is resulting
in long lines like the ones often seen for COVID tests.
And makeshift clinics,
like the ones used for COVID patients.
Many felt relief.
But some are still skeptical.
All right, here we go!
In the US, though, mistrust of vaccines
has gradually declined.
The Food and Drug Administration gave
emergency use authorization to both Pfizer's treatment
and a second one developed by Moderna,
widening the reach of the country's immunization effort.
Thank you, Dr. Fauci, for coming today.
Any last minute questions, concerns?
No.
But the nation with the most infections
in the world is off to a slower than expected start.
20 million Americans were supposed to get a shot
by the end of 2020.
Only about 3 million did.
Back in the UK, a second vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca
was also approved just before the new year.
Unlike Pfizer's, it doesn't need to be stored
in frigid temperatures,
making it much easier to transport and store.
India has since given the Oxford shot a green light as well,
manufacturing a local version called Covishield.
The country also approved its own
government-backed vaccine called Covaxin.
But many health experts worry about Covaxin's
missing efficacy data, calling the authorization rushed.
China has heard similar critiques
about its vaccination programs.
Since the summer, it's been administering unproven,
homegrown vaccines to parts of its population.
Among these is the CoronaVac, made by the company Sinovac.
It's already been used on some high-risk groups in China,
while being tested in Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Indonesia.
The Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm
also has vaccines in development.
Despite a lack of transparency around trial data,
the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain
have been the first two countries
to approve of a Sinopharm vaccine.
It was my duty as a Bahraini female and as a doctor
as well to take this vaccine,
and to be one of the pioneers to take it.
Much of the story about whose shots
are approved where is turning out to be a political one.
In Hungary, the dilemma is noticeable.
Even though the country is part of the European Union,
and Pfizer's vaccine is already being rolled out,
the government is still considering more doses
from China and Russia.
Countries are playing, and our leaders or politicians
are playing, a game.
Which vaccine can they get first?
Hungary is in a special situation,
because it is in the middle from East and West.
But for the coronavirus,
there is no distinction between East and West.
And those with resources will need to make sure
the rest of the world can get its shots, too.