A nurse is preparing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Sarcelles, near Paris, on January 10, 2021.
ALAIN JOCARD | AFP | Getty Images
Pfizer will provide up to 40 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to a global alliance that aims to provide coronavirus vaccines to poor nations, the head of the World Health Organization said Friday.
The agreement will allow Covax – led by WHO – to start administering vaccine doses to participating countries in February, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press briefing. Tedros added that, pending emergency authorization, the program expects 150 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to be available for distribution in the first quarter of this year.
The Covax program aims to provide 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to participating countries, which includes low- to middle-income nations, by the end of this year. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two shots spread over a few weeks, indicating that the agreement would cover only 20 million people.
Tedros said the agreement will also allow other countries with Pfizer vaccine supplies to donate them to the program. The WHO chief criticized rich nations that have signed supply agreements with drug manufacturers for initial doses of Covid-19 vaccines, storing supplies away from poorer countries.
“This is not only significant for COVAX, but it is a major step forward for equitable access to vaccines and an essential part of the global effort to overcome this pandemic. We will be safe everywhere if we are safe everywhere,” he said. Dr. Seth. Berkley, CEO of Gavi, Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said at a news conference that the company will provide vaccine doses to Covax and poor nations at a cost. Pfizer was the first company to receive a global emergency use list for its vaccine from the WHO, allowing other countries to speed up their regulatory approval processes to begin administering the vaccine.
Bourla said the company will help deliver doses, which require ultra-cold storage and special handling, to low-income countries. UNICEF, which contributes to dose management, has previously warned that some of the world’s poorest countries could face challenges in storing and managing photos once they arrive.
The program agreement with Pfizer brings its supply agreements to just over 2 billion doses in total, although it will continue negotiations for additional supply. The goal is to immunize health care and other front-line workers, as well as high-risk people, starting in the first quarter of this year, according to Covax.
The agreement follows a decision by the United States to remain a member of the WHO under President Joe Biden. The new administration will also join the Covax program, a move the Trump administration resisted last year.
“I simply could not avoid the temptation to say that I am very happy that this press conference takes place on the day the United States joins the WHO. I think it is a symbolic day, wonderful for us,” said Pfizer Bourla. he said at the briefing.