An association between poverty and COVID-19 fully vaccine coverage in 117 countries: an ecological study
نویسندگان
1 Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
2 Health Education and Health Promotion Department, School of Health, Medical Education Research Center, Health Management and Safety Promotion Research Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
3 Research Center for Social Determinants of Health, Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Jahrom, Iran
4 Ph.D Student in Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
doi
10.30476/jhmi.2025.103694.1234چکیده
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated populations and posed unprecedentedchallenges to healthcare systems and medical infrastructures. Vaccination is the mostpowerful and successful strategy to effectively control and eliminate the infectious diseasepandemic and resume social and economic daily activities. This ecological study aimed toinvestigate the correlation between poverty (daily income less than $ 5.5) and vaccinationcoverage for COVID-19 in 117 countries worldwide.Methods: statistical analyses were conducted to address the aims of this ecological study, asmentioned above, to examine the association between cumulative fully vaccinated populationand poverty in 117 countries. Poverty and vaccine coverage were study variables. Data werecollected from the Poverty Rate by Country 2021 and our World in Data Database 2021.Results: The three countries with the highest rate for the cumulative fully vaccinatedpopulation were Portugal (88.98%), Chile (85.32%), and Spain (80.82%), and the threecountries with the lowest rate were Burundi (0.02%), Chad (0.48%), and Haiti (0.61%). Therewas a significant, robust negative correlation between cumulative fully vaccinated populationshares and poverty rate (r=-0.86, P<0.001). The correlation was confirmed for upper-middle-incomeand lower-middle-income countries. The correlation was not confirmed for high-incomeand low-income countries.Conclusion: The findings indicate a negative link between poverty and vaccine coverage.Vaccinating at least 60% of the population is essential to curb disease in low-income nations.Global cooperation for fair vaccine distribution is vital for controlling the pandemic.
