Photographer: Cheney Orr / Bloomberg
Photographer: Cheney Orr / Bloomberg
Covax, the facility that aims to distribute vaccines fairly worldwide, may start giving out to the 92 member countries in February and hopes to 3% of their numbers covered by the end of June.
“We expect to be able to provide the first tranche to all participating economies – enough to protect around 3% of the population – in the first half of 2021,” said Gavi, based in Geneva, the Vaccination Alliance, in an email response to questions Friday.
The process could begin as early as February depending on when vaccines are approved and how prepared local health systems and regulators are, Gavi said. Covax is led by Gavi, the World Health Organization and the Consortium for Epidemic Preparation Innovations.
At least 49 countries have begun protecting their populations after receiving vaccines directly from pharmaceutical companies. Many others, including much of Africa, rely heavily on Covax.
By the end of the year Covax hopes to have provided enough views to cover 20% of the population for countries that have ordered the full share. Some, such as South Africa, ordered less.