What is being done to distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally?
Various groups are working to bring vaccines to poor countries, but not enough is being done to curb coronavirus outbreaks around the world.
One of the initiatives is COVAX, which relies on donations from wealthy countries and private contributors. The group has failed to meet its distribution target mainly because at the beginning of the pandemic it did not have the resources to ensure the supply of vaccines.
As of mid-August, COVAX had distributed about 207 million doses in 138 countries and territories. The United States alone delivered more than 417 million doses, according to the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVAX was created last year to try to ensure that vaccines are distributed fairly and is run by health agencies such as the World Health Organization. Without enough purchased vaccines, the program now relies on those donated by wealthier countries, but most of these commitments will not be met this year.
Logistics is another problem. To receive vaccines through COVAX, countries have to show how they would distribute them and prioritize high-risk groups such as health workers and the elderly. But some nations desperately in need of the drugs have been unable to present their plans and lack the funds to carry out immunization campaigns of their own.
Others have stepped up to help. In July, the African Union announced the purchase of 400 million doses of the vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson for 45 nations on the continent. China, Russia and the United States have donated millions of doses through bilateral agreements. And in June, the world’s most industrialized countries – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, which make up the so-called Group of Seven – said they would donate 1 billion doses to poor nations.
But the figure is still well below the 11 billion vaccines that, according to the WHO, are necessary to stop the pandemic.
To protect people at high risk of severe disease in low-income nations, the United Nations health agency urged the wealthiest to immediately donate more doses and halt their plans to immunize children. and inject booster doses.
“We are now making conscious decisions not to protect those in need,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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