More than 100 countries have already received vaccines against COVID-19 thanks to COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access run by the World Health Organization (WHO) together with UNICEF and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, among other organizations. This stage comes 42 days after the first doses of COVAX were shipped internationally to Ghana on February 24.
COVAX has already delivered over 38 million doses on six continents, supplied by three manufacturers: AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Serum Institute of India (SII). Of the more than 100 countries affected, 61 are among the 92 low-income economies that receive vaccines funded by the GAVI Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
Despite lower supply availability in March and April, due to the expansion and optimization of production processes by vaccine manufacturers in the initial implementation phase, as well as the increased demand for COVID-19 vaccines in India, COVAX expects to deliver doses to all country participants who requested vaccines “in the first half of the year”.
“In less than four months since the first mass vaccination outside a clinical setting worldwide, it is extremely gratifying that the implementation of COVAX doses has already reached 100 countries. COVAX may be on track to achieve all of this. the first half of the year, but we face a daunting challenge as we try to end the acute phase of the pandemic: we will be safe only when everyone is safe and our efforts to accelerate the volume quickly. governments and vaccine manufacturers. As we continue with the largest and fastest worldwide deployment of vaccines in history, this is not the time for satisfaction, “said GAVI CEO Seth Berkley.
“COVAX has provided the world with the best way to ensure the fastest and fairest and most effective delivery of vaccines to all people at risk in every country on the planet. If we want to seize this great opportunity, countries, manufacturers and the international system must to unite to prioritize the supply of COVAX vaccines. Our collective future literally depends on it, “added WHO Director – General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“In just a month and a half, the ambition to give countries access to COVID-19 vaccines is becoming a reality, thanks to the extraordinary work of our partners in the COVAX mechanism. However, this is not the time to celebrate; now is the time to accelerate. With the emergence of global variants, we need to accelerate global deployment, and to do this we need governments, together with other partners, to take the necessary steps to increase supply, including the simplification of barriers to intellectual property rights, the elimination of direct and indirect measures restricting exports of COVID-19 vaccines and donating remaining doses of vaccines as soon as possible, ”said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
Based on its latest supply forecasts, COVAX expects to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by 2021. To achieve this, organizations say that “COVAX will continue to diversify its portfolio and announce new agreements with vaccine manufacturers. timely”.