TORONTO (AP) – The World Health Organization has granted an emergency permit for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, a move that should allow UN agency partners to deliver millions of doses to countries around the world as part of a UN-sponsored program to to tame the pandemic.
In a statement, the WHO said it was eliminating AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca-SKBio in South Korea.
The WHO’s green light for the AstraZeneca vaccine is only the second that the UN health agency has issued after authorizing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December. Monday’s announcement should trigger the delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to countries that have signed up for the UN-backed COVAX effort, which aims to deliver vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people.
“Countries without access to vaccines so far will finally be able to start vaccinating their health workers and at-risk populations,” said Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Products. of health.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected about 109 million people worldwide and killed at least 2.4 million of them. But many of the world’s countries have not yet begun vaccination programs, and even rich nations are facing shortages of vaccine doses, while producers are struggling to speed up production.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has already been licensed in over 50 countries, including the United Kingdom, India, Argentina and Mexico. It is cheaper and easier to handle than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which needs deep cold storage, which is not widespread in many developing countries. Both vaccines require two photos per person, weeks apart.
Last week, WHO vaccine experts recommended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over the age of 18, including in countries that have detected variants of COVID-19.
But this was contrary to the recommendation of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said countries that identified a virus variant first seen in South Africa should be “cautious” in using the AstraZeneca vaccine, suggesting that other photos will be prioritized instead.
The AstraZeneca vaccine accounts for most of COVAX’s current stock and concerns have recently been raised after an early study suggested that it may not prevent mild to moderate illness caused by the first-time variant seen in South Africa. Last week, South Africa reduced its planned launch of the AstraZeneca vaccine, opting instead to use an unlicensed photo from Johnson & Johnson for its healthcare workers.
COVAX has already missed its own goal of starting coronavirus vaccinations in poor countries, at the same time as fires have been launched in rich countries. Many developing countries have rushed in recent weeks to sign their own private bids to buy vaccines, unwilling to wait for COVAX.
WHO and its partners, including the alliance with GAVI vaccines, have not said which countries will receive the first doses of COVAX. But an initial plan showed that a handful of rich countries that have signed several private vaccine agreements, including Canada, South Korea and New Zealand, are also scheduled to receive early doses from COVAX.
Some public health experts called this “very problematic” and attributed it to the faulty design of COVAX, which allowed donor countries to double. by purchasing vaccines from the program, while signing their own commercial offers.
“Canada has ordered enough doses to supply its population about five times and is now looking to accept their dose quota from COVAX, which would otherwise be administered to poor nations,” said Anna Marriott, head of health policy for Oxfam. International.
The WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, said rich countries that had signed up to receive COVAX vaccines would not be denied applications.
“The COVAX facility will not penalize countries,” she said in early February.
After pledging more than $ 400 million to COVAX last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was always his country’s intention to receive COVAX vaccines.
Marriott said rich countries intending to take doses of COVAX should reconsider their intentions, given their previous calls for support for the goal of equal access to vaccines for all nations of the world, rich or poor.
“He looks pretty hypocritical,” she said. “Countries rich in their own supplies should call correctly and not take vaccines from countries that are really in a serious situation.
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This story corrects that the doses will be shipped by WHO partners, not AstraZeneca partners.
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