The 10 most-read Devex stories of 2021

It should come as little surprise that one topic commanded Devex readers’ attention like no other in 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic news cycle shows little sign of slowing down, with just 4% of people in low-income countries vaccinated against the disease, and new variants forcing health experts and institutions to rethink and adapt on a regular basis.

But the 10 most-read Devex articles of 2021 also included an inside look at the politics of development assistance to Ethiopia amid its ongoing crisis and an exclusive report on big problems inside the African Union Commission.

Here are Devex’s 10 most-read articles of the year:

1. The countries that don't want the COVID-19 vaccine. As COVAX began to roll out doses in Africa, Rumbi Chakamba looked at how the vaccine sharing facility might approach countries where government leaders or the general public have denied COVID-19’s existence, or made false claims about how to treat it.

2. Gates Foundation reverses course on COVID-19 vaccine patents. Bill Gates faced widespread criticism for opposing intellectual property waivers for COVID-19 vaccines. Catherine Cheney reported on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s sudden change of tune.

3. In Pakistan, COVID-19 vaccines go on sale. While Pakistan’s government focused on securing free COVID-19 vaccines for its citizens, the country also allowed its private sector to import and sell vaccines to those who could afford them, Haroon Janjua reported in March.

4. If not health workers, who gets China’s Sinovac vaccine in the Philippines? In February, Jenny Lei Ravelo reported that the Philippine regulatory authority had given emergency use authorization to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biotech company, Sinovac, but with one big caveat: health care workers shouldn’t receive it.

5. Novavax EVP: It's up to policymakers to decide use of COVID-19 vaccine. “We do oppose the TRIPS waiver and … not because we're not in support of equitable allocation, and not because we don't believe that doses need to go into low-income countries with some priority, but because manufacturing a complicated biological [vaccine] like we have is not like making aspirin,” said John Trizzino, executive vice president at Novavax, in this interview with Jenny during the United Nations General Assembly.

6. A cautionary tale? After hydroxychloroquine, attention turns to ivermectin. Faced with a lack of access to COVID-19 vaccines, surging case numbers, and a flurry of anecdotal or misleading information, large numbers of people turned to questionable treatment methods, such as the antiparasitic drug ivermectin.

7. COVAX releases country-by-country vaccine distribution figures. Over the course of 2021, COVAX repeatedly revised its vaccine distribution projections downward. This story from Sara Jerving in February shows how cracks in the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain were already chipping away at optimism about global vaccine equity.

8. Jeremy Farrar: COVID-19 pandemic 'is nowhere near its end.' “There is no solution to any infectious disease which does not include the critical contribution of the health systems, of diagnostics, and of treatment, and that is ever true of COVID-19,” Wellcome Director Jeremy Farrar said in March.

9. Exclusive: Audit finds nepotism, corruption, and worse at the African Union Commission. In February, Rumbi Chakamba revealed the contents of an audit that confirmed extensive allegations of nepotism, corruption, financial mismanagement, power abuse, and sexual harassment at the African Union Commission.

10. Ethiopia looks to Germany amid EU funding fight. After the European Commission decided to withhold funding to the Ethiopian government due to the conflict in the Tigray region, the country looked for continued support from Germany — and found it, Vince Chadwick reported from Brussels.