Leaders of an international body set up to promote global access to coronavirus vaccines, known as Covax, said on Friday that the effort had reached additional agreements with manufacturers to allow it to access nearly two billion doses of candidate vaccines. more than half of them are intended to be delivered to low- and middle-income countries.
The aim of the effort is to ensure vaccination for one-fifth of the population of the 190 participating countries and economies before the end of next year.
The new offerings involve vaccines that are still being studied for efficacy and safety, one by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and one by Johnson & Johnson. While discussions have been ongoing, arrangements have not yet been finalized for the procurement of the FDA-approved BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, which is already being administered in countries including the United States and the United Kingdom.
The international effort has been led by the public-private partnership for health known as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organization.
Friday’s announcement included news that a mechanism had been developed so that overdose countries could share them.
Many high-income countries have made arrangements with several producers that could result in a significantly higher dose than needed to vaccinate the entire population. Officials in Canada and France have announced that they intend to contribute additional doses through Covax, although they have not specified a timeline or said whether they will vaccinate the entire population first.
France will “start distributing vaccines as soon as possible,” Stephanie Seydoux, the country’s ambassador to global health, told a news conference.
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In other developments around the world:
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Into the South Africa, scientists and health officials announced on Friday the discovery of a new offspring of the coronavirus that quickly came to dominate virus samples tested in the country. The variant, called 501.V2, was also associated in a preliminary analysis with faster spread and a higher load of virus found in the buffers. Scientists are closely examining it, as the variant includes several changes in the part of the virus that allows it to attach to human cells, which is a key target for antibody and vaccine therapies.
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Into the Europe, a number of policies are in place across the continent before Christmas, as deaths exceed 500,000. . Germany has introduced a strict blockade for Christmas week, and the Netherlands and Italy will have stricter measures during the holiday. France and Spain have some restrictions in place, but have withstood new national blockades. In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticized for lifting restrictions on Christmas gatherings, even as new infections rise. The regional director of the World Health Organization, Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, said in a statement on Friday that now is not the time for Europeans to ease restrictions.
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As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Sweden, the government issued several new recommendations on Friday, including the use of face masks. “We need to do more now because the medical system is tense,” said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. The new recommendations include a limit of four people per table in restaurants, cafes and bars and a ban on the sale of alcohol after 20:00 Shops, shopping malls and gyms are asked to further limit the number of customers.