Can anybody tell me what this phrase means please?
Vaccines are desperately needed in the developing world. Even when they’re available and inexpensive, there’s still a major problem: most vaccines need to be refrigerated. Reaching the relevant populations often means traveling to areas where electricity and refrigeration [are spotty at best].

be spotty at best, what does this mean? Thank you

Question

Can anybody tell me what this phrase means please?
Vaccines are desperately needed in the developing world. Even when they’re available and inexpensive, there’s still a major problem: most vaccines need to be refrigerated. Reaching the relevant populations often means traveling to areas where electricity and refrigeration [are spotty at best].

be spotty at best, what does this mean? Thank you

Answer

As Annika has explained, 'spotty' means an irregular distribution. We also use the word 'patchy' with the same meaning.

Note the phrase 'at best'. If you add 'at best' to an adjective or adverb, it means that in some cases the situation is even worse than this. This suggests that there is no electricity or refrigeration at all in some areas : 'spotty' is the best that you can hope for.

Answer

Your answer really makes sense. Thank you Annika.

Answer

It means that electricity and refrigeration are not available in all the parts of the developing world but only in some spots (=spotty), like spots across a map. The distribution is irregular. Hope that helps!

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