More than 100 countries have already received vaccines against COVID-19 thanks to COVAX, the global equitable access mechanism led by the World Health Organization (WHO) together with UNICEF and the GAVI Vaccine Alliance, among others. This milestone comes 42 days after the first doses of COVAX were shipped internationally on February 24, in Ghana.
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 April, due to vaccine manufacturers expanding and optimizing their manufacturing processes in the early stages of deployment, and due to increased demand for 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 around the world, it is immensely gratifying that the deployment of COVAX doses has reached 100 countries. COVAX is on track to reach them all. Participating economies in the first half of the year, but we still face a huge challenge as we try to end the acute phase of the pandemic: we will only be safe if everyone is safe and our efforts to speed up volume.Governments and vaccine manufacturers As we continue with the largest and fastest global vaccine deployment in history, now is no time for complacency, ”said GAVI CEO 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 in the world. international system must come together to prioritize vaccine delivery through COVAX Our collective future literally depends on it, ”added WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“In just a month and a half, the ambition to give countries access to COVID-19 vaccines becomes a reality, thanks to the extraordinary work of our partners in the COVAX Mechanism. However, this is not the time to celebrate; now is the time to celebrate. With variants emerging around the world, we need to accelerate global implementation. To do this, we need governments, along with other partners, to take the necessary steps to increase supply, including streamlining obstacles to intellectual property rights, the elimination of direct and indirect measures limiting the export of COVID-19 vaccines and the donation of the leftover doses of vaccines as soon as possible, ”said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
Based on its latest delivery 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 in due course.”