NEW YORK, (Pakistan Point News - 24th Sep, 2021) Global leaders attending the Global COVID-19 Summit hosted by the United States have again underlined their commitment to ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries through COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, noting that equitable access is essential to end the acute stage of the pandemic.
Building on the momentum and global solidarity generated over the past eighteen months by various commitments including at summits organised by the European Commission, the G20 under the Saudi and Italian presidencies, the United Kingdom (UK), including the G7 under the UK presidency, the United States, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Wedneday's Summit saw further pledges made to COVAX and equitable access.
As the host of the Summit, the United States presented a target to vaccinate the world and as part of its commitment, pledged an additional 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to be delivered to low- and lower-middle-income countries through COVAX. These doses are in addition the deal for 500 million Pfizer doses facilitated by the United States, announced in June, and more than 90 million surplus doses shared through COVAX, bringing the US total doses to be provided through COVAX to nearly 1.1 billion doses.
With deliveries of previously pledged doses underway, these additional doses will be made available beginning in January 2022. In addition, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will provide more than $383 million in political risk insurance to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) to facilitate shipments around the world.
The United States and the European Union announced a joint agenda for combatting the global pandemic, re-emphasising commitments to share doses with COVAX and support critical readiness activities, and calling on other nations to do the same – particularly emphasising the importance of predictable and effective dose-sharing to maximise sustainability of the process and minimise wastage of doses. Building on previous pledges, Team Europe committed to share 500 million doses by mid-2022.
In addition to the US$ 285 million Sweden has already pledged to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), the financing mechanism which enables access to fully donor-funded doses for 92 lower-income economies, Sweden announced that a new pledge of SEK 2.1 billion (approximately US$ 243 million) in cash contributions and dose donations, will be made available to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines to AMC-eligible economies through 2021 and 2022.
Alongside these commitments, several countries pledged additional dose donations to be made available to countries around the world, including through COVAX, with Spain pledging an additional 7.5 million doses, Italy pledging an additional 30 million doses to be made available by the end of the year, and Japan, which hosted the "One World Protected" Gavi COVAX AMC Summit in June 2021, pledging approximately 60 million doses. In addition, Denmark announced during the United Nations General Assembly this week that it would be doubling its dose donation commitment, bringing the total to 6 million doses pledged to be shared.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: "I am grateful to President Biden and world leaders for the commitment they have shown to vaccinate the world. However, what we need to succeed is truly sustainable, ironclad support that gets delivered now – not in 6 months or 12 months time. If we are to meet the targets we have set of vaccinating 10% of the population of all countries by the end of this month, 40% by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid next-year, we need to drastically scale up access to vaccines now."
So far COVAX has delivered more than 300 million doses to 142 economies, and according to the latest forecast, a total of approximately 1.2 billion doses will be available for the lower income economies supported by the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) by the end of 2021. This is enough to protect 20% of the population, or 40% of all adults, in all 92 AMC economies with the exception of India. The key COVAX milestone of two billion doses released for delivery is now expected to be reached in the first quarter of 2022.
