Overcoming COVID-19 vaccine preferential bias in Europe: Is the end of the pandemic still foreseeable?

Adusei-Mensah, F.; Inkum, I. E.

The availability of safe and effective vaccines alone does not save lives, it is the inoculation plus other public health measures that do. Recent reports suggest the growing trend in vaccine preferential bias in parts of the world but not much data in Europe. The present paper aims to investigate the occurrence of COVID-19 vaccine preferential bias in Europe for effective vaccination planning and pandemic control. Method Data on vaccine-delivered for vaccination campaigns to the EU member states was collected from Eu center for disease control (EUCDC) on the COVID-19 vaccination radar. The data was processed for analysis on MS excel and both descriptive and statistical analysis was done with SPSS version 21. Analysis was performed at 95% CI and statistically, a significant difference was considered at p < 0.05. Results We observed statistically significantly lower vaccine uptake compared to the vaccine delivered doses in the present study (average at 62.678 +/- 3.928%) (p< 0.05, CI = 95%). Great variances in uptake for Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines (50.927 +/- 4.626 %) compared to Pfizer-Biontech vaccine (86.285 +/- 2.1052 %) were observed compared to a previous prospective study on the wiliness to receive COVID-19 vaccine in the region (75%). Conclusion Public health practitioners and policymakers need to factor in the existence of COVID-19 preferential bias based on vaccine type or manufacturer. This will enable them to introduce policies including public education campaigns on the need to avoid bias on the wiliness to inoculate to enhance vaccine uptake for smooth and effective control of the pandemic.