It is nearing the launch of COVAX, an unprecedented United Nations program to use COVID-19 vaccines for hundreds of millions of needs worldwide
GENEVA – The launch time for COVAX, the unprecedented United Nations program to use COVID-19 vaccines for hundreds of millions of needs worldwide, is nearing launch.
More than two months after countries such as Britain and the United States vaccinated their most vulnerable, the UN health agency on Monday approved a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which should release hundreds of millions of doses of COVAX.
COVAX missed its own target for vaccine initiation at the same time as vaccines were introduced in rich countries, and several developing countries have signed their own treaties to purchase vaccines. , for fear that the program will not deliver them.
The World Health Organization and partners hope COVAX can finally start delivering vaccines later this month.
Here’s a look at the project:
WHAT IS COVAX, AND WHY DOES IT TAKE?
It is a collaborative program aimed at ensuring that low- and middle-income countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines. Some buy them, others get them for free thanks to donation countries and charities.
COVAX hopes to have about 336 million doses by the end of June, and about 2 billion doses by the end of the year.
WHO leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week that more than 130 million doses of vaccine have been delivered worldwide – three-quarters of them in just ten countries. Nearly 130 countries with 2.5 billion people have given a single dose, he said.
WHY IS EMERGENCY USED IMPORTANT?
Unlike most rich countries, many developing countries do not have the resources to assess whether vaccines should be approved. They rely on WHO to find out if vaccines are safe, effective and whether they have been made correctly.
The moment that has hit COVAX hardest so far is tied to Monday ‘s agreement on the AstraZeneca vaccine; the program has purchased hundreds of millions of doses, although there is no guarantee of when countries will receive them. The Serum Institute of India, which produces most of them, has previously stated that the delivery of shots to COVAX would be “calibrated” according to India’s own domestic and other needs.
But questions have arisen recently about the use of the vaccine, with the growing prevalence of the virus variant being first identified in South Africa. Early studies suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against that divergence and the South African government has delayed plans to roll out its own sources of the vaccine. The WHO said last week that the AstraZeneca pill should still be used in countries that have detected changes – but the head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned countries in the region to prioritize other vaccines if place.
WHO TAKES THE FIRST?
COVAX leaders have not said.
Gian Gandhi, UNICEF ‘s procurement coordinator for COVAX, said confirmation of the doses that the children’ s group of the DA can apply will come once the WHO has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The WHO pays attention to preparedness and need, and has prioritized getting doses to health care workers and vulnerable people such as the elderly.
The practice “varies from country to country,” Gandhi said. “In some cases, the timeframe may be in the range of days and weeks; in others it may be several weeks. “
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Lori Hinnant applied from Paris.