The first shipment of the COVAX vaccine arrives in Ghana, hope for developing countries

The first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines delivered through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program arrived in Ghana on Wednesday, a hopeful turning point for developing countries at risk of falling behind in the global race to get vaccinations against a virus nearly 2,000. Killed 5 million people. worldwide.

The flight brought in 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is believed to be much easier to distribute to developing countries because it does not require extremely cold storage temperatures like the Pfizer-GenTech and Moderna vaccines.

The vaccines delivered on Wednesday will be prioritized for primary care workers, over-60s and those with pre-existing health problems, the Ghanaian Ministry of Information said.

“Today marks the historic moment for which we have planned and worked so hard,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director in a joint statement from her agency and WHO Ghana.

“With the first shipment of doses, we can deliver on the promise of the COVAX facility to ensure that people from less prosperous countries are not left behind in the race for life-saving vaccines.”

COVAX is a global plan co-led by WHO, an international vaccine alliance called Gavi, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

While richer countries continue to develop and purchase expensive vaccines, poorer countries are suffering the effects of inequality. Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in December that it may already be too late for fair distribution of the vaccines due to the huge deals already made by rich countries.

According to a group of human rights activists, the People’s Vaccine Alliance, rich countries, which make up only 14% of the world’s population, had secured 53% of the world’s supply of the best-performing coronavirus vaccines in December.

COVAX was founded to promote fair access to vaccines worldwide, with the goal of vaccinating 20% ​​of people in the world’s 92 poorest countries through donations by the end of 2021. Several other middle-income countries will purchase vaccines through COVAX on the basis of their own resources. The plan aims to deliver 2 billion doses of vaccines this year that have been approved by the WHO as safe and effective.

The shots delivered to Ghana were produced by the Indian Serum Institute, which has gained access to the intellectual property that allows it to produce vaccines using the Oxford-AstraZeneca formula. The African Union has secured approximately 670 million doses of the Serum Institute vaccine for its member states, and aims to have 60% of Africa’s 1.3 billion inhabitants vaccinated in the next two to three years.

“This is amazingly significant. We want the gap between when rich people and poor people are vaccinated to be reduced to zero,” Hassan Damluji, deputy director for global policy and advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told CNBC Wednesday in an interview. .

“We know that it normally takes decades for a vaccine to be developed and used for the first time in rich countries and then reach the world’s poorest people. So before Ghana receives its first shipment, just three months after the very first vaccine. Global rollout is extraordinary, he said. “It is by far the fastest ever.”

The Gates Foundation has spent $ 1.75 billion on efforts to combat the coronavirus and has focused its efforts on vaccine development within COVAX.

Damluji noted that the program’s vaccine procurement for poor countries was funded entirely by donors at a time when every developed global economy is in recession. “So it’s pretty remarkable,” he said.

The exclusion of poor countries from vaccination programs rolled out in wealthier countries will have devastating and long-lasting consequences, economists and public health experts warn, dramatically widen inequalities, hamper social and economic development and leave dozens of countries with significantly more debt.

These disparities mean that the long-term economic damage from the pandemic will be twice as severe in emerging markets as it is in developed markets, Oxford Economics said. And a study by RAND Corporation predicts that the global economy will lose $ 153 billion a year in output if emerging countries do not have access to vaccines.

Countries covered by the COVAX donation plan will receive doses proportional to their population: Afghanistan, for example, will receive 3 million doses, while Namibia will receive just under 130,000.

The Palestinian Territories expect to receive vaccines through COVAX in March; Iran and Iraq are also part of COVAX, as are many lower-income countries in the Middle East. Richer Gulf states have bought their own vaccine shipments direct from manufacturers, with some also contributing to the COVAX donation pool despite their own recessions: Saudi Arabia contributed $ 300 million and Qatar donated $ 10 million.

The US had not contributed to the COVAX facility under the Trump administration, but the Biden administration has pledged the largest donation to date – $ 4 billion.

Damluji pointed out the challenges of COVAX’s goals by conducting extensive vaccination campaigns in countries with inadequate infrastructure, limited logistics and transportation options, remote populations, and in some cases violence and war.

“This stuff is a moving target. Rightly so, the world is paying attention to this and wants to make sure it goes well,” he said. ‘But a few months ago we didn’t even know which vaccines would work. And now people need them at their doorstep. ‘

“There will also be some complications,” he added. “It’s the greatest effort ever to buy health care.”