A nurse prepares 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 supply up to 40 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to a global alliance aimed at supplying poor countries with coronavirus vaccines, the head of the World Health Organization said Friday.
The agreement will allow Covax – co-led by WHO – to begin delivering vaccine doses to participating countries in February, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference. Tedros added that, pending an emergency permit, the program expects 150 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to become available for distribution in the first quarter of this year.
The Covax program aims to deliver 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to participating countries, including low- to middle-income countries by the end of this year. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two injections weeks apart, indicating that the agreement would only affect 20 million people.
Tedros said the agreement would also allow other countries with supplies of Pfizer’s vaccine to donate it to the program. The head of the WHO has criticized wealthy countries for making supply agreements with drug manufacturers for their initial doses of Covid-19 vaccines, stockpiling supplies away from poorer countries.
“This is not only important for COVAX, it is an important step forward for equitable access to vaccines and an essential part of the global effort to combat this pandemic. We will only be safe everywhere if we are safe everywhere,” Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO, said at the press conference that the company will supply the doses of vaccine to Covax and the poorer countries for a fee. Pfizer was the first company to receive a worldwide emergency list for its vaccine from WHO, allowing other countries to speed up their regulatory approval processes to start administering the vaccine.
Bourla said the company will help deliver the doses, which require ultra-cold storage and special handling, to low-income countries. UNICEF, which helps administer the doses, has previously warned that some of the world’s poorest countries could face difficulties storing and administering the shots as soon as they arrive.
The program’s agreement with Pfizer brings the supply agreements to just over 2 billion doses in total, although it will continue negotiations for additional supplies. According to Covax, the goal is to immunize healthcare and other primary care workers, as well as some high-risk individuals, from the first quarter of this year.
The deal follows the United States’ decision to remain a member of the WHO under President Joe Biden. The new administration will also join the Covax program, a move that the Trump administration opposed last year.
“I just couldn’t avoid the temptation to say that I am very happy that this press conference is taking place on the day the United States rejoins the WHO organization. Pfizer chief Bourla said at the briefing.