NEW DELHI (AP) – With Americans, Britons and Canadians rolling their sleeves to get corona virus vaccines, the way out of the epidemic is now clear to many in the West, even if the rolling takes months. But for poor countries, the road can be very long and rough.
The ambitious initiative called COVAX was created to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine has access to the entire world, with only a fraction of the $ 2 billion expected to be purchased next year, with no real deals on vaccine shipments yet to be secured and cash.
The virus, which has killed more than 1.6 million people, has exposed vast imbalances between countries as weak health systems and small economies are often severely affected. COVAX was set up by the World Health Organization, the vaccine alliance GAVI and CEPI, the global coalition to fight infections, to avoid the international label for vaccines with past outbreaks, and to strengthen those imbalances.
But now some experts say the chances of corona virus footage being shared fairly among rich countries are fading, and the rest are fading fast. Vaccine distribution is currently limited, and in developed countries, some of them have helped taxpayers fund research with money, under intense pressure to protect their own people, and buy footage. Meanwhile, some poor countries that have signed up to the initiative are looking for alternatives because of fears that it will not deliver.
“It’s simple math,” said Arnold Bernard, the World Health Organization’s global health chief. At approximately $ 12 billion, the pharmaceutical industry is expected to produce next year, with about 9 billion shots already allocated by rich countries. “Kovacs are not getting enough, they will only get these levels too late as the situation unfolds.”
To date, Kovacs’ only confirmed, legally contracted contract is up to 200 million doses, although GAVI spokesman James Bulker said there is an option to order several times more than the number of those additional quantities. It also has contracts for another 500 million vaccines, but they are not legally binding.
The 200 million dose comes from the Serum Institute of India, which makes up the bulk of the corona virus scenario imposed on developing countries. CEO Adar Poonawalla says a vaccine developed by Oxford University and Astrogeneneka and a vaccine from Novovax each has a confirmed order of 100 million doses.
He told the Associated Press: “There is nothing beyond us. If they want more, they have to place more orders.”
He said the lack of commitment from Kovacs would mean a longer wait for people in developing countries. Poonawalla also said that his company’s first priority would be to create scenarios for India, which has suggested that it wants at least 300 million vaccines. Poonawalla said India could not take it all at once, but a big order would delay the distribution of vaccines to other parts of developing countries.
Further slowing down this process is that neither the regulatory agency for the Astrogenega vaccine nor Novovox has yet been licensed – and any injection distributed by Kovacs will require WHO approval. Kovacs does not yet have supplies of two vaccines – Pfizer-Bioentech Shot and Moderna. The United Kingdom has already begun giving the Pfizer vaccine, And the United States and Canada are releasing it this week. Some Gulf countries Have recognized it.
However, GAVI said they “aim to release safe and effective vaccines for COVAX (member states) within the first and second quarters of the new year.”
Dr. Kagandeep Kang, an epidemiologist at the College of Christian Medicine in Vellore, noted that vaccines take months, even in rich countries, and many developing countries face severe logistics challenges that increase delays. In South India.
Even senior WHO officials have personally acknowledged that efforts to fairly allocate the vaccine are flawed, although its success has been publicly praised.
“The whole call for global solidarity has largely been lost,” said Dr. Katherine O’Brien, the WHO’s vaccination leader, during a recent internal discussion, which was recorded by the AP.
Asked to clarify his views, O’Brien said in an email, “Every country should have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, as soon as possible.”
Adding to Kovacs’ difficulties, O’Brien noted at a news conference this month that $ 5 billion less was needed to buy the amount he planned to receive next year.
According to a statement issued by GAVI prior to a meeting this week, the coalition itself decided that the risk of COVAX failure was “extremely high”, saying it should be “established at the time of registration and move to unnamed territory”.
But John Enkensang, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa, criticized Western countries for “buying more for their needs while we are still struggling with Kovacs (effort) in Africa”.
With no guarantee of which shots will work, governments have signed several agreements in recent months to ensure that their citizens have at least some COVID-19 injections. Canada, for example, bought nearly 200 million vaccines – enough to cover five times its population of 38 million.
Nkengasong called for the idea that those in rich countries would have immunity when Africans go without “a moral issue”.
Experts point out that failure to protect people in developing countries, beyond protocol, could leave the reservoir of corona virus that could trigger new outbreaks at any time.
Amid fears that COVAX will not be able to deliver, some developing countries are either leaving completely or seeking their own contracts. Earlier this month, the small Pacific island nation of Palau announced it was abandoning the initiative and receiving donated vaccines from the United States instead. Other low- and middle-income countries, including Malaysia, Peru, and Bangladesh, have also relied on the initiative, but have recently entered into their own agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers as a project.
Anban Pillai of the South African Ministry of Health said joining Kovacs was a step-by-step move before signing bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical companies.
Kate Elder, Vaccine Policy Adviser for Doctors Without Borders, says, “This is increasing as the ship travels on equivalent vaccine distribution” – and GAVI, WHO and others should discuss how to increase vaccine production.
To that end, South Africa and India have asked the World Trade Organization to waive some of the rules governing intellectual property. Manufacturers in poorer countries are making it easier to make COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. But many rich countries are reluctant to do so.
Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s health policy manager, said that as more and more countries in the West endorse the vaccine, “the difference between vaccinating people in rich countries and having no vaccines in developing countries will become very clear.” “And it will prolong the epidemic.”
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Cheng report from Toronto. Associated Press Writers in Nairobi Kara Anna; Lori Hinnant in Paris; Julhas Alham in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Victoria Milco in Jakarta, Indonesia; Elaine NG in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; And Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka contributed to the report.