NEW DELHI (AP) – With coronavirus cases still on the rise, Honduras got tired of waiting to receive vaccines through a United Nations program, so the small Central American country attacked on its own, getting the shots through a private agreement.
Honduras “cannot expect bureaucratic processes or wrong decisions” to give citizens the “peace of mind” offered by the COVID-19 vaccine, said Juan Carlos Sikaffy, chairman of the Honduran Private Business Council, which helped complete the purchase by providing a bank guarantee.
Other countries are also getting impatient. Unlike previous disease outbreaks, where less wealthy countries have waited for the United Nations and other organizations to deliver vaccines, many now take matters into their own hands. Experts are increasingly concerned that these efforts can only undermine a UN-backed program to achieve COVID-19 shots at the world’s most needy people.
Countries such as Serbia, Bangladesh and Mexico recently began vaccinating citizens through donations or trade agreements, an approach that could leave even fewer vaccines for the program known as COVAX, as rich countries have already gotten the most out of it. this year’s offer.
Led by the World Health Organization, a coalition for epidemic preparedness known as CEPI and a vaccine alliance called GAVI, COVAX was created to distribute COVID-19 vaccines fairly. Countries can come together to buy vaccines or receive donations.
Mustaqeem De Gama, a diplomat from the South African mission in Geneva, cited “a level of despair” fueled by the spread of virus variants and “the uncertainty of when any COVAX vaccine could arrive.” He doubted that countries that signed up for COVAX “will get even 10% of what they need”.
Even if the effort is successful, COVAX’s stated goal is to vaccinate less than 30% of people in poor countries, which means governments must look for other sources to get enough shots to get the herd immunity. .
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country was forced to reduce its own agreements after seeing how rich countries fought for scarce traits. He criticized nations that he said bought more doses than they needed.
“It’s like they intend to vaccinate all their cats and dogs,” he said.
Although Serbia paid 4 million euros to COVAX last year, it has not yet received any shots and last month began its vaccination campaign with vaccines from Pfizer, China’s Sinopharm and Russia.
Recent manufacturing delays in Europe raise concerns about whether drug manufacturers will be able to meet multiplier orders.
“So many offers are being signed that I think it’s hard to see how the figures for all the ordered doses that occur in the foreseeable future can be summed up,” said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice president of the Center for Development. Global.
Last week, the African Union finalized an agreement for 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which will be produced by the Serum Institute of India. This adds to a previously negotiated agreement from the African Union for 270 million doses from various pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses that Africa expects to receive from COVAX.
Some experts warn that these new offers could move COVAX to the back of the line, especially if some countries are willing to pay a speed premium.
To ensure that South Africans received doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine quickly, government officials reluctantly agreed to pay a higher price per shot than Europe or North America. The first shipments arrived this week.
COVAX expects to start shipping its first batches of vaccines to Africa later this month, but those plans may change depending on manufacturers ’production capacities and countries’ vaccination plans.
Mexico began vaccinating health workers in December due to a direct purchase agreement with Pfizer. In recent weeks, the country has been forced to resort to Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, which was expected to arrive next week, although it has not been approved by Mexican regulators.
Kate Elder, senior adviser on borderline vaccine policies for doctors, said developing countries should not be criticized for getting private vaccine deals, as this is precisely what rich countries did last year. .
“All countries are only doing what they believe they should do to protect their people,” he said, but the ability of poor countries and regions to be vaccinated more quickly than COVAX could hurt future UN efforts.
“If countries receive vaccines on their own, then how do the WHO and GAVI provide them?” she asked.
Although India is contracted to provide COVAX with several hundred million doses of vaccine, the shots have not yet been authorized by the WHO, meaning India cannot release them for the United Nations program. United. Meanwhile, India has already given away neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses.
Dr Haritha Aluthge, of the Medical Association of the Government of Sri Lanka, called on the WHO to intervene amid intense competition for vaccines and the failure of COVAX.
“No dose (of COVAX) has been received,” Aluthge said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently warned that the world is on the brink of “catastrophic moral failure” if COVID-19 vaccines are not distributed fairly, but the agency has no authority to forcing rich countries to share them.
Their pleas for countries to act in solidarity have been largely ignored.
Norway is the only country that said it would send vaccines to developing countries as its own citizens are vaccinated, but has not specified how many would be given. Britain has said it will not divert any vaccines until it ends its own vaccination program. Australia, which has largely wiped out COVID-19, has no timetable for when it can share vaccines with its poorest Southeast Asian neighbors and the Pacific islands.
Relentless pressure on the world’s vaccine supplies can only increase when more successes occur, said Krishna Udayakumar, director of the Duke Global Health Institute.
“COVAX is the only global, multilateral platform that allows for something close to global access and equity, however, it has access to a relatively small amount of vaccines,” he said. “The only way out is to have more vaccines.”
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Cheng reported from Toronto. Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Marlon González in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report.