This paper is one of a series of research elements produced by the European Union funded AHA! Awareness with Human Action project that seeks to contribute to the response efforts of the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing conflict and building social cohesion in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and broader South Asia. The AHA! project is implemented by a consortium of project partners, including the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers/Finn Church Aid, World Faiths Development Dialogue, the Center for Peace and Justice – Brac University, the Center for Communication and Development of Bangladesh, Islamic Relief Worldwide, the Youth Development Foundation, and Sarvodaya.

A central challenge during the global COVID-19 crisis has been stark inequalities in care and impact. Nowhere is the need to balance concerns to assure equity and to meet public health priorities so apparent as in vaccination programs. This links both to policies that set priorities for allocating scarce vaccination resources and to communicating information that communities urgently need. Inequitable sharing of vaccines and poor communication detract from the vaccination efforts that are so essential to controlling the pandemic. These challenges are especially severe in South Asia’s populous and diverse countries where existing identity-based conflict fault lines isolate and stigmatize certain groups, thus complicating vaccination rollout. Trust deficits hamper programs and adherence to guidelines even with proper messages. Women in particular are disparately impacted by the crisis because of their caretaking roles and lower access to information, particularly in digital spaces.

This brief highlights ethical and practical dimensions of COVID-19 vaccination, focusing on South Asia and Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and on issues of equity in vaccine access. Addressed both to policy makers and civil society actors, it summarizes contemporary debates and offers some operational proposals to promote equitable vaccine access in the region.