COVAX Facility Negotiates Procurement Of COVID-19 Vaccines With Several Companies - WHO

COVAX Facility Negotiates Procurement of COVID-19 Vaccines With Several Companies - WHO

The COVAX facility, a vaccine procurement mechanism, coordinated by global health public-private partnership Gavi and the World Health Organization, is negotiating with manufacturers of several COVID-19 vaccine candidates, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said Monday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2020) The COVAX facility, a vaccine procurement mechanism, coordinated by global health public-private partnership Gavi and the World Health Organization, is negotiating with manufacturers of several COVID-19 vaccine candidates, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said Monday.

Earlier in the day, US biotechnology company Moderna announced that its mRNA-based candidate vaccine against COVID-19 had proven to be 94.5 percent effective in Phase 3 clinical trials. Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech shared information about their vaccine said to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.

"The facility is discussing with vaccine manufacturers from around the world. We are open to procurement of vaccines doses," Swaminathan told a virtual press briefing, adding that she could not further clarify what those companies are.

She went on to mention various criteria and considerations that accompany the process.

"There are the cost considerations as well, there's the affordability, and then there are practical considerations like the need for cold storage, the number of doses of vaccines that will be required, the number of doses that may be available early in 2021. So, there will be, apart from efficacy and safety, other considerations that the facility will consider when making a decision on whether or not to go ahead with the contract," the chief scientist added.

The issue of availability of medical goods and services across the globe has become even more pressing amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and various initiatives, including the ACT-Accelerator, which involves the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are seeking to tackle it. The COVAX initiative is a part of this initiative, aimed to facilitate development, manufacture and distribution of vaccines against the coronavirus disease.