Supply Scarce Abroad, Demand Down At Home: Vaccine Access Is Starkly Unequal

Vaccine demand is beginning to slide in the U.S., but in other parts of the world, the pandemic is devastating countries where vaccines are more scarce. India is one of those countries. There only 2% of the population is fully immunized.

There's an argument that waiving intellectual property rights could boost global vaccine production, and this week the Biden administration came out in support of that idea. Mustaqeem de Gama, South Africa's counsellor at the World Trade Organization, tells NPR that U.S. support is a "game changer."

Meanwhile, in some parts of the U.S., it's getting harder to find enough arms for vaccine doses. Katia Riddle reports from Oregon.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This episode was produced by Ashish Valentine, Brianna Scott, Brent Baughman and Lee Hale. It was edited by Sami Yenigun with help from Joe Neel, Scott Hensley, Jason DeRose, Wynne Davis and Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Cara Tallo.