165 Countries Joining COVAX

Seventy-five countries have submitted expressions of interest to join the COVAX Facility, reported the World Health Organization (WHO).

The COVAX Facility forms a key part of the COVAX pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

Announced on July 15, 2020. this new group and the numerous previous commitments indicate 165 countries representing more than 60% of the world’s population are engaging with COVAX.

COVAX is a mechanism designed to guarantee rapid, fair, and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

Furthermore, the goal of COVAX is by the end of 2021, to deliver 2-billion doses of safe, effective SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus preventive vaccines.

COVAX intends to achieve this goal by sharing the risks associated with vaccine development, investing in manufacturing upfront so vaccines can be deployed at scale as soon as they are proven successful, and pooling procurement and purchasing power to achieve sufficient volumes to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 disease pandemic. 

“COVAX is the only truly global solution to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a press statement.

“For the vast majority of countries, whether they can afford to pay for their own doses or require assistance, it means receiving a guaranteed share of doses and avoiding being pushed to the back of the queue, as we saw during the H1N1 pandemic a decade ago.”

“Even for those countries that are able to secure their own agreements with vaccine manufacturers, this mechanism represents, through its world-leading portfolio of vaccine candidates, a means of reducing the risks associated with individual candidates failing to show efficacy or gain licensure,” concluded Dr. Berkley.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, like every health crisis, also presents us with opportunities,” added Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist. 

“A vaccine that is affordable and accessible to all will help us address systemic health inequalities. We need all countries to support COVAX to achieve this goal and bring an end to the acute phase of the pandemic.”

The current coronavirus vaccine development listing can be found at CoronavirusToday.

Precision Vaccinations published vaccine development news.