COVAX, the global vaccine partnership, has lined up almost two billion doses of existing and candidate Covid-19 vaccines for use worldwide, including 200 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine through a pact between the Vaccine Alliance Gavi, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
COVAX is the global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for all countries.
It announced that it had arrangements in place to access nearly two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine candidates on behalf of 190 participating economies.
This includes delivering at least 1.3 billion donor-funded doses of approved vaccines in 2021 to the 92 low-and middle-income economies.
“This is fantastic news and a milestone in global health,” World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at WHO Headquarters.
“This is a time for taking comfort that the end of the pandemic is in sight, but taking care that we do not let down our guard. We are all responsible for taking the measures to keep ourselves and each other safe, including during this holiday season.
“With today’s news the light at the end of the tunnel has grown a little bit brighter, but we are not there yet. And we will only get there together,” he said.
The goal of COVAX is to deliver two billion doses of safe, effective vaccines that have passed regulatory approval and/or WHO prequalification by the end of 2021. These vaccines will be offered equally to all participating countries, proportional to their populations, initially prioritising healthcare workers and then expanding to cover vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.
Further doses will then be made available based on country need, vulnerability and Covid-19 threat. The COVAX Facility will also maintain a buffer of doses for emergency and humanitarian use, the WHO said in a statement.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII), said in the statement that his company has signed for a 100 million doses of Novavax and another 100 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines with COVAX, with an option of extending it by 900 million doses.
“The advance purchase commitments under COVAX initiative is encouraging as it will further bolster our fight and ensure equitable access at the most affordable price from Serum Institute of India,” he said.
For the vast majority of these deals, COVAX has guaranteed access to a portion of the first wave of production, followed by volume scales as further supply becomes available. The deals will enable all participating economies to have access to doses in the first half of 2021, with first deliveries anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2021.
Before Friday’s announcement, COVAX had already lined up more than 1 billion doses of vaccines under development for 2021.
Of the 92 economies eligible to be supported by the COVAX AMC, 86 have now submitted detailed vaccine requests, offering the clearest picture yet on actual global demand for ovid-19 vaccines.