Fallout From Vaccine Scarcity in Underserved Countries

By Allison Kozicharow; Edited by Elizabeth Fine

A troubling addition to the U.S. global aid cut crisis is the uptick in preventable diseases due mainly to vaccine shortfall in low-resource countries. According to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, viral infections will increase and spread in 2026. Viral outbreaks cited for concern in the Gavi report include Influenza A, mpox, chikungunya, HIV and measles.

Viruses are constantly mutating. New viruses, such as COVID-19, can come out of nowhere and new outbreaks can appear unexpectedly, as with Ebola. Frighteningly, the New York Times reports that U.S. vaccine manufacturers are cutting research and laying off workers because of the Trump administration’s vaccination and health policies. Unsurprisingly, hospitals in the United States report the rise in serious diseases as vaccinations decrease, especially in children, for life-threatening infections such as measles.

Slowing the spread of disease through community health worker (CHW) preparation and community training has always been a priority for WiRED International, but we have redoubled our efforts since January 2025 as the gap between vaccine deficit and viral spread has widened.

In the past year WiRED has expanded our CHW training programs into a universal blueprint of frontline care:

• Basic CHW Training (providing a rigorous curriculum of peer-reviewed modules)
• Advanced CHW Training (deepening clinical knowledge and skills building)
• Special Topics Training (developing specialization in health topics tailored to local needs)
• Continuing Medical Education (complying with World Health Organization standards, requiring CHWs to complete credits to maintain certification)
• Review Training for three groups involved in CHW activities:
  • CHWs
  • Trainers (train the trainers)
  • CHW Supervisors

In addition, WiRED fast-tracked the production of infectious disease prevention animations — working with CHWs and medical teams — to engage regular community members in a consolidated effort to avoid the spread of illness. The animation series is being used in schools and by CHWs in their community health training sessions. We welcome anyone interested in teaching about infectious disease to use these free videos in their training programs. (See sidebar for links to WiRED’s animations.)

Also, in response to the Ebola outbreak WiRED now offers a complete package of Ebola modules for which we updated our current courses and added new ones. (Read our website story here.)

Behavioral prevention cannot replace vaccines. But WiRED is convinced that enlarging our training programs can enable our CHWs and their communities to protect themselves against viruses, old and new, and prepare them for outbreaks to come.