The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has invested in the development of two vaccines to prevent the novel coronavirus disease, hopes to launch global deliveries in the first half of 2021, CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2020) The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which has invested in the development of two vaccines to prevent the novel coronavirus disease, hopes to launch global deliveries in the first half of 2021, CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett said on Thursday.
"Our ambitious goal was to have the vaccines ... more broadly available within 12 to 18 months starting from the initiation of the program which means in the fist half of 2021 and right now we think we are still on target potentially to begin delivering vaccines more broadly in the first half of 2021," Hatchett said at a WHO briefing.
CEPI previously said it planned to provide up to two billion doses of a vaccine by the end of 2021.
"Two of the vaccines that CEPI has funded - the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the vaccine being developed by Novavax - are now being tested in South Africa. They are the first vaccines to be tested on the African continent," Hatchett added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed a total of 25.6 million COVID-19 cases in 216 countries and areas, including 852,758 fatalities.
