Covax: Fewer Corona Vaccines for Poor Countries Than Expected
The international vaccination program Covax expects to be able to give no more than 20 percent of people in poorer countries a corona shot this year.
That is a lot less than expected in advance, say the World Health Organization and the international organization GAVI, the bodies behind the program.
In July, Covax expected to receive more than 2 billion doses of corona vaccines, but that number has fallen to 1.425 billion doses, of which 1.2 billion are for poor countries. The organization attributes the decrease in donated vaccines to the export restriction for Serum Institute of India (SII), responsible for a significant part of the corona vaccines.
Manufacturing problems at Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are also causing fewer donated vaccines than expected, as well as delays around the approval of vaccines from US biotech company Novavax and China’s Clover Biopharmaceuticals.
“Today, Covax’s ability to protect the world’s most vulnerable people is still hampered by export bans, the prioritization of bilateral deals by manufacturers and countries, the ongoing challenges in scaling production by some key manufacturers, and delays in applying for regulatory approval,” the WHO and GAVI said in a joint statement.
