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COVAX fulfills pledge, reaches over 100 economies with COVID-19 Vaccines 42 days after first delivery

*COVAX Facility has delivered life-saving COVID-19 Vaccines to over 100 economies around the world

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In fulfillment of its earlier pledge to ensure enhanced production and distribution of more COVID-19 vaccines for immunisation against the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic especially in the developing and poorer countries of the world, the COVAX Facility has now delivered life-saving vaccines to over 100 economies.

The COVAX Vaccine Alliance is making its first international delivery to Ghana, a West African country February 24, 2021.

Over 38 million doses of the virus vaccines from manufacturers AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Serum Institute of India (SII) have now been delivered, including 61 economies eligible for vaccines through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, agency report said.

It was learnt that the initiative aims to supply vaccines to all participating economies that have requested vaccines, in the first half of 2021, despite some delays in planned deliveries for March and April.

ConsumerConnect recently reported that COVAX, which is the World Health Organisation’s vaccine initiative, informed that the COVID-19 Vaccine shots should be rolled out to over 100 countries within weeks.

This projection is considered a significant increase from 84 at present, with a shortage of supplies the limiting factor, agency report said.

Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gavi Alliance, a public-private partnership that works to provide vaccines for developing countries, had told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” from Geneva, in Switzerland, that “if we had more doses, we could make these available.”

Berkley, who is said Berkley, an epidemiologist, stated: “What we’re talking about now is ultimately getting access to the large manufacturing facilities.”

Thus far, more than 100 economies have received life-saving COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, according to report.

Despite reduced supply availability in March and April – the result of vaccine manufacturers scaling and optimising their production processes in the early phase of the rollout, as well as increased demand for COVID-19 vaccines in India – COVAX expects to deliver doses to all participating economies that have requested vaccines in the first half of the year.

Dr. Seth Berkley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, stated: “In under four months since the very first mass vaccination outside a clinical setting anywhere in the world, it is tremendously gratifying that the roll-out of COVAX doses has already reached one hundred countries.”

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