Topic: 2025 – Vaccine Access and Distribution
Country: Colombia
Delegate Name: Andre Terrana
Equitable access to vaccines is an important worldwide issue that all countries should take steps to address. This is especially important for countries like Colombia, since during the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin American countries experienced problems such as delayed vaccine distribution and logistical problems. The Republic of Colombia affirms that access to vaccines is a fundamental human right and that the United Nations must work on addressing this issue.
Some problems with current vaccine distribution include supply chain failures, unequal access to vaccines, and financial barriers to people becoming vaccinated. Colombia benefited from the COVAX initiative, which was created in 2020 to ensure fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries. However, COVAX ultimately failed due to a lack of coordination in accessing and securing supply of vaccines (WHO 2020). Domestically, Colombia has seen success with its’ Expanded Immunization Program, which includes Covid vaccines, prioritizing vulnerable groups (elderly, young children, health workers), and promoting routine childhood vaccinations.
Latin American states have a large barrier to vaccine access. One of the reasons for this is COVID-19 interrupting routine childhood vaccinations, as well as COVID leading to declining vaccination confidence. The main problem is that there is not enough funding to subsidize vaccines, and some people are unable to afford them. Colombia wants to work with other Latin American countries to increase vaccination rates, and to identify other issues relating to vaccine access.
Colombia suggests that the WHO works to reduce “vaccine nationalism” (where rich countries buy the majority of doses available first) to ensure that there are enough available vaccines for all of those in need. Colombia would like to propose using a similar system to our Expanded Immunization Program (as mentioned earlier) as a start to ensuring this equitable access. Colombia also supports the funding to increase vaccine research, which will help to not only provide more vaccines, but to hopefully make them more cost-effective. Finally, Colombia wants to ensure that the global vaccine supply chain is transparent and sustainable to increase the speed of delivery and use. Colombia looks forward to collaboration with similarly-minded member states to work towards creating a healthier world.
Works Cited
CDC. “Fast Facts on Global Immunization.” Global Immunization, 19 Sept. 2024, www.cdc.gov/global-immunization/fast-facts/index.html.
“Latin America and the Caribbean Records World’s Biggest Drop in Childhood Vaccination over Past Decade.” Www.unicef.org, www.unicef.org/lac/en/press-releases/latin-america-and-caribbean-records-worlds-biggest-drop-childhood-vaccination-over-past-decade.
Machado-Alba, Jorge Enrique, et al. “Timeliness for Vaccination according to the Expanded Immunization Program in Children under 6 Years of Age in Colombia between 2014 and 2019.” Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, vol. 20, no. 1, 4 Sept. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2395685.
Shao, Qi. “The Origin of Vaccine Nationalism.” Vaccine, vol. 51, Apr. 2025, p. 126897, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.126897.
WHO. “COVAX: Working for Global Equitable Access to COVID-19 Vaccines.” World Health Organization, 2020, www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax.
