Time for action: towards an intersectional gender approach to COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment that leaves no one behind
Shirin Heidari, David N Dürrheim, Ruth Faden, Sonali Kochhar, Noni E. MacDonald, Folake Olayinka, Tracey Goodman
Abstract
### Summary box The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed once again how gender and other inequalities are inter-related with and worsen health disparities. Gender shapes risk of infection, vulnerability to disease and experience of ill health, and socioeconomic disparities.1 Important interplays between biological sex and gender, as a social construct, and other variables such as age, race and ethnicity, and other health conditions, have demonstrated differential risks of COVID-19 exposure, acquisition and outcomes.2 3 Sex-based differences in vaccine-induced immune response and adverse events are well documented, and may influence vaccine acceptance, access and uptake, which are also highly gendered.4 Hence, it is imperative that sex and gender be meaningfully considered alongside other intersecting dimensions when developing and deploying COVID-19 vaccines.5 Inherent in this is the need for meaningful engagement of the expertise and leadership of women in all scientific research, policymaking and programmatic decision-making processes at global, national and local levels. This article …