More than 100 countries have already received vaccines against COVID-19 thanks to COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access led by the World Health Organization (WHO) alongside Unicef and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, among other organizations. This milestone comes 42 days after the first doses of COVAX will be sent internationally to Ghana on 24 February.
COVAX has already delivered more than 38 million doses on six continents, supplied by three manufacturers: AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and the Serum Institute of India (SII). Of the more than 100 countries reached, 61 are among the 92 low-income economies that receive vaccines funded through GAVI’s Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
Despite the lower availability of supplies in March and opened, as a result of which vaccine manufacturers have expanded and optimized their production processes in the initial phase of deployment, as well as increased demand of COVID-19 vaccines in India, COVAX expects to deliver doses to all participating countries that have applied for 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 tremendously gratifying that the deployment of COVAX doses has already reached one hundred countries. It is possible that COVAX is on track. reach all participating economies in the first half of the year, but we still face a huge challenge when we try to end the acute phase of the pandemic: we will only be safe when everyone is and our efforts “As we continue with the largest and fastest global vaccine deployment in history, it is not the time for complacency,” he said. GAVI, Seth Berkley.
“COVAX has provided the world with the best way to ensure the fastest and most equitable deployment of safe and effective vaccines to all people at risk in every country on the planet. If we want to seize this great opportunity, countries, producers and the international system must unite to give priority to the supply of vaccines through COVAX. our collective future literally depends on this, “added WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus .
“In just a month and a half, the ambition to grant countries access to COVID-19 vaccines is becoming a reality, thanks to the extraordinary work of our partners in the COVAX Mechanism. However, it is not it is time to celebrate, it is time to accelerate, with the variants that are emerging around the world, we need to accelerate global deployment, for which 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 the donation of surplus vaccine doses as soon as possible. ” , said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
According to its latest supply forecast, COVAX expects to deliver at least 2 billion doses of vaccines by 2021. To achieve this goal, the organizations state that “COVAX will continue to diversify its portfolio and announce new agreements with vaccine manufacturers at the time. appropriate”.