Over the past five decades, it is estimated that 154 million lives have been saved through immunisation programmes, the vast majority of them children under the age of five . Smallpox has been eradicated, polio is close to being eliminated, and diseases such as measles, diphtheria, and pertussis are controlled in countries with high vaccination coverage . Yet, despite these achievements, access to vaccines remains uneven across the globe, and the benefits are still not shared

COVID-19 social-distancing and travel restrictions have begun to ease or lift in some countries, but the scientific and medical...