The Global Health Security Index is not predictive of vaccine rollout responses among OECD countries.

Abstract Objective We sought to evaluate the utility of the GHS index in predicting the launch of COVID-19 vaccine rollout by OECD member countries. Methods We collected country-level data on the preparedness to respond to infectious disease threats through vaccination rollout using the GHS index. OECD member countries were rank-ordered based on the percentage of their populations fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Rank-ordering was done from the lowest to the highest, with each country assigned a score ranging from 1 to 33. Spearman's rank correlation between the GHS index and the percentage of the population that is fully vaccinated was also performed. Results Israel, ranked 34th in the world on the GHS index for pandemic preparedness has the highest percentage of the population that was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within 2 months of the global vaccine rollout. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient between GHS index and the percentage of population fully vaccinated was -0.1378, with a p-value of 0.43. Conclusion Our findings suggest an absence of correlation between the GHS index rating and the COVID-19 vaccine rollout of OECD countries, indicating that the preparedness of OECD countries for infectious disease threats may not be accurately reflected by the GHS index.