MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) The World Health Organization (WHO) is in constant contact with the United States over the supply of the COVID-19 vaccines to the COVAX global initiative, WHO Senior Adviser Bruce Aylward, said on Friday.
"Are we in touch with the United States? Absolutely, and we have been for some time, and the US has been absolutely fantastic in reaching out to us as well. It is a two-way conversation about how to optimize the use of potential doses," Aylward said at a press briefing, adding that the COVAX facility was holding similar talks with a range of other countries.
In March, the US contributed $2 billion to the WHO-led initiative and has pledged to donate another $2 billion next year.
As of May, COVAX's vaccine portfolio includes Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford, Moderna, Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson.
The initiative aims to ship close to 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of 2021, in an unprecedented global effort to guarantee access to vaccines for all. However, it struggled to mobilize support needed from wealthy nations to subsidize its program and has only secured orders for 1.07 billion doses so far.
