About 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine created by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer will be delivered to COVAX, the initiative of the World Health Organization to distribute immunizations equitably, in the first quarter of this year announced its director this Friday.
Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus announced the signing of the new agreement to which would also be added another 150 million doses of the Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine, pending approval by the Organization as safe and effective for emergency use.
"Together, these announcements mean that COVAX could begin to deliver doses in February," said the head of the WHO.
Tedros added that, with the existing agreements, the initiative is on track to deliver 2000 billion doses by the end of this year in all 190 registered countries.
"This agreement also opens the door to countries that are willing to share doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to donate to COVAX and support its rapid implementation," he said, calling once again that the international community work together to guarantee the vaccination of health workers and older people around the world in the first 100 days of 2021.
He added that the announcement by the United States to join the initiative, and the new agreements mean that COVAX is "closer to fulfilling its promise."
“This is not only significant for COVAX, it is a huge step forward for equitable access to vaccines and an essential part of the global effort to combat this pandemic. We will only be safe anywhere if we are safe everywhere, ”said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is leading the acquisition and delivery of COVAX.
The goal is to protect at least 20% of the population of each country by the end of the year. Approximately 1300 billion doses will be delivered to the 92 countries that will receive them as donations since they cannot pay for them.
«The # COVID19 pandemic is out of control in many parts of the world. Governments and people are panicking and we share their anguish, ”Berkley said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 has been the first to be licensed in some countries
Time to get ready
WHO will launch a "Country Readiness Portal" this month, which will allow participants registered to receive vaccines through donation to submit vaccination plans and national deployment.
According to the Organization, this is a vital step before COVAX can make the allocations, to ensure that the doses administered can be implemented effectively and to identify where, if necessary, further support is needed.
"These purchase agreements open the door for these life-saving vaccines are available to people in the most vulnerable countries. But at the same time that we are securing vaccines, we must also ensure that countries are ready to receive, implement and build trust in them, ”said Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, agency in charge of distributing vaccines.
The COVAX facility will provide the 190 participating economies with an indicative allocation by the end of this month of the doses they will receive in the first rounds of vaccine distribution, this will provide provisional guidance for them to prepare.
"I am confident that, with its experience and resources, the United States will boost global efforts against the pandemic," Fore said.
The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is the first vaccine that has been distributed in countries.
Mutations and why further research is important
To meet its goal of ensuring 2000 billion safe and effective vaccines by 2021, COVAX has created a diverse portfolio of vaccine candidates that mitigates the risk of a product failure in development, production or regulation processes, and ensures the availability of suitable products for various contexts and environments. This work will continue to pace to enable a greater supply of vaccines suitable for use in a wide range of populations and settings in 2021 and beyond, the experts explained.
“The progress in vaccine development so far has been extraordinary and it is clear that we are now putting together the tools we need to end the acute phase of the pandemic. But we cannot afford to slow down our efforts given the speed with which this pandemic continues to wreak havoc, ”explains Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI.
Hatchett assured that the emergence of new variants of COVID-19 highlights the need to stay one step ahead of the virus by continuing to invest in vaccine research and development, specifically for next-generation candidate vaccines.
"You have to be prepared for strain changes and to make sure we have the tools to meet the needs of all populations in all countries in the long term," he said.
In this regard, the vaccine expert, Katherine O'Brien, said during the press conference that infections must be urgently reduced to prevent the emergence of more variants that could respond worse to COVID-19 vaccines.
"It is too early to know if the vaccines are less effective in any of the new variants," he explained.
View of the Shard Tower in London, from the River Thames
Strain in England
While the WHO press conference was taking place, the UK Prime Minister said that the British variant may be more deadly than the original. WHO specialists could not confirm this point until we have more information, but they insisted on the importance of suppressing infections.
“If the variant is more contagious, there are more cases and then there are more people hospitalized. If there are more hospitalized and the systems are overloaded, more deaths occur because the doctors are overwhelmed, "said the WHO technical leader for COVID-19, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove.