In this photo illustration, you can see a hand holding a medical syringe, and the Covax facility logo is displayed on the background screen.
Rafael Henrique, SOPA Images, LightRocket via Gett
- Covax stated that it should be able to provide Covid-19 vaccine to 20% of people in poorer countries.
- This is a far cry from the goal of delivering 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
- To date, Covax has distributed only about 243 million doses of vaccine to 139 poorer countries.
The vaccine sharing facility Covax said on Wednesday that it should be able to provide Covid-19 vaccine to no more than 20% of people in poorer countries this year, far below expectations.
Covax admits that it now expects to receive only 1.425 billion doses of vaccine this year-well below its target of 2 billion doses by the end of the year.
According to Covax supporters, the World Health Organization, the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, and the Alliance for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), it is now expected that this milestone will only be achieved in the first quarter of 2022.
This year 1.2 billion doses of vaccine will be used in Covax’s so-called Advance Market Commitment (AMC) program, which aims to provide the 92 poorest countries in the world with free access to the Covid-19 vaccine at the expense of donors.
“This is enough to protect 20% of the population or 40% of all adults in all 92 AMC economies except India,” the Covax statement said.
Covax’s partners are often angry at the severe imbalance between rich and poor countries in access to the Covid-19 vaccine.
Read | Rich countries will have 1.2 billion doses they don’t need
The statement said: “Global access to the Covid-19 vaccine is unacceptable.” %.
According to UNICEF, which is responsible for the logistics of vaccine sharing facilities, so far, Covax has distributed only about 243 million doses of vaccine to 139 poorer countries.
But large-scale expansion is imminent.
“Most countries in the world have now accepted the Covax vaccine,” Gavi CEO Seth Berkeley told reporters, despite emphasizing that “this is just the beginning.”
Between now and the end of the year, we expect that there will be 1.1 billion more doses available for delivery.
The plant where the Serum Institute of India produces the AstraZeneca drug should have been an early pillar of the Covax supply chain-but India restricted exports in response to its own destructive coronavirus surge.
After these delivery problems, Covax increasingly relied on doses donated by rich countries, which purchased more batches than they needed.
“Today, Covax’s ability to protect the most vulnerable people in the world continues to be hindered by export bans, manufacturers and countries’ prioritization of bilateral transactions, the continuing challenges of some major manufacturers to expand production, and delays in applying for regulatory approvals,” the statement said.
