COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or GAVI), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and others. It is one of the three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, an initiative begun in April 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission, and the government of France as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVAX aims to coordinate international resources to enable the equitable access of COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and COVID-19 vaccines.[1]
By 15 July 2020, 165 countries – representing 60% of the human population – had joined COVAX.[2]
Vaccine candidates
Many of the countries that will benefit from COVAX, have "limited regulatory capacity" and depend on WHO's authorisations. By early 2021, WHO was reviewing 11 potential COVID-19 vaccines for its Emergency Use Listing (EUL).[3] The first WHO authorised for its EUL on 31 December 2020, was the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine—an RNA vaccine developed by BioNTech in cooperation with Pfizer, and sold under the brand name Comirnaty.[4][5]
The WHO stated in a press release on 24 August 2020 that COVAX had nine CEPI-supported vaccine candidates and nine candidates undergoing trials, giving it the largest selection of COVID-19 vaccinations in the world.[6] By December, COVAX had finalized negotiations with other manufacturers that gave it access to two billion vaccine doses.[7]
Distribution (recipients)
COVAX provides vaccines to the developing world.[8] A total of 92 low- and middle-income countries are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX mechanism[9] through the COVAX Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (AMC) financing instrument.[9][10] COVAX AMC is funded by donor contributions.[10] COVAX AMC funds the COVAX Facility, the vaccine procurement platform.[10]
On 3 February 2021, GAVI, the WHO, and UNICEF published the country-by-country distribution of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines forecast for first half of 2021.[11] The early projection includes 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine in Q1 2021 and 336 million doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine in first half 2021 to the 145 COVAX facility participants.[12][13] It is expected that health care workers and the most vulnerable will receive the first doses, which are anticipated to reach approximately 3.3% of the total population of each participating country by the end of the first half of 2021.[13]
In February 2021, the WHO and Chubb Limited announced the roll out of a no-fault compensation scheme for COVID-19 vaccinations for low and middle-income countries which would be financed initially through Gavi COVAX AMC donor funding.[14]
On 24 February 2021, Ghana became the first country in the world to receive vaccines through COVAX when 600,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine were delivered to Accra.[8][15]
Participant | SFP/AMC | AstraZeneca SII |
AstraZeneca SK Bioscience |
Pfizer-BioNTech | Total |
---|
India | AMC | 97,164,000 | - | - | 97,164,000 |
Pakistan | AMC | 17,160,000 | - | - | 17,160,000 |
Nigeria | AMC | 16,008,000 | - | - | 16,008,000 |
Indonesia | AMC | - | 13,708,800 | - | 13,708,800 |
Bangladesh | AMC | 12,792,000 | - | - | 12,792,000 |
Brazil | SFP | - | 10,672,800 | - | 10,672,800 |
Ethiopia | AMC | 8,928,000 | - | - | 8,928,000 |
Congo, Dem. Rep. | AMC | 6,948,000 | - | - | 6,948,000 |
Mexico | SFP | - | 6,472,800 | - | 6,472,800 |
Philippines | AMC | - | 5,500,800 | 117,000 | 5,617,800 |
Egypt | AMC | - | 5,138,400 | - | 5,138,400 |
Vietnam | AMC | - | 4,886,400 | - | 4,886,400 |
Myanmar | AMC | 4,224,000 | - | - | 4,224,000 |
Iran | SFP | - | 4,216,800 | - | 4,216,800 |
Kenya | AMC | 4,176,000 | - | - | 4,176,000 |
Uganda | AMC | 3,552,000 | - | - | 3,552,000 |
Sudan | AMC | 3,396,000 | - | - | 3,396,000 |
South Africa | SFP | - | 2,976,000 | 117,000 | 3,093,000 |
Afghanistan | AMC | 3,024,000 | - | - | 3,024,000 |
South Korea | SFP | - | 2,596,800 | 117,000 | 2,713,800 |
Colombia | SFP | - | 2,553,600 | 117,000 | 2,670,600 |
Uzbekistan | AMC | 2,640,000 | - | - | 2,640,000 |
Angola | AMC | 2,544,000 | - | - | 2,544,000 |
Mozambique | AMC | 2,424,000 | - | - | 2,424,000 |
Ghana | AMC | 2,412,000 | - | - | 2,412,000 |
Ukraine | AMC | - | 2,215,200 | 117,000 | 2,332,200 |
Yemen | AMC | 2,316,000 | - | - | 2,316,000 |
Argentina | SFP | - | 2,275,200 | - | 2,275,200 |
Nepal | AMC | 2,256,000 | - | - | 2,256,000 |
Algeria | AMC | - | 2,200,800 | - | 2,200,800 |
Cameroon | AMC | 2,052,000 | - | - | 2,052,000 |
Cote d'Ivoire | AMC | 2,040,000 | - | - | 2,040,000 |
Iraq | SFP | - | 2,018,400 | - | 2,018,400 |
North Korea | AMC | 1,992,000 | - | - | 1,992,000 |
Canada | SFP | - | 1,903,200 | - | 1,903,200 |
Morocco | AMC | - | 1,881,600 | - | 1,881,600 |
Niger | AMC | 1,872,000 | - | - | 1,872,000 |
Peru | SFP | - | 1,653,600 | 117,000 | 1,770,600 |
Saudi Arabia | SFP | - | 1,747,200 | - | 1,747,200 |
Sri Lanka | AMC | 1,692,000 | - | - | 1,692,000 |
Malaysia | SFP | - | 1,624,800 | - | 1,624,800 |
Burkina Faso | AMC | 1,620,000 | - | - | 1,620,000 |
Mali | AMC | 1,572,000 | - | - | 1,572,000 |
Malawi | AMC | 1,476,000 | - | - | 1,476,000 |
Zambia | AMC | 1,428,000 | - | - | 1,428,000 |
Venezuela | SFP | - | 1,425,600 | - | 1,425,600 |
Non-UN Member States | N/A | - | 1,303,200 | - | 1,303,200 |
Cambodia | AMC | 1,296,000 | - | - | 1,296,000 |
Senegal | AMC | 1,296,000 | - | - | 1,296,000 |
Chad | AMC | 1,272,000 | - | - | 1,272,000 |
Somalia | AMC | 1,224,000 | - | - | 1,224,000 |
Zimbabwe | AMC | 1,152,000 | - | - | 1,152,000 |
Guinea | AMC | 1,020,000 | - | - | 1,020,000 |
Syrian Arab Republic | AMC | 1,020,000 | - | - | 1,020,000 |
Bolivia | AMC | 900,000 | - | 92,430 | 992,430 |
Chile | SFP | - | 957,600 | - | 957,600 |
Benin | AMC | 936,000 | - | - | 936,000 |
Rwanda | AMC | 996,000 | -102,960 | 893,040 | |
Ecuador | SFP | - | 885,600 | - | 885,600 |
Haiti | AMC | 876,000 | - | - | 876,000 |
South Sudan | AMC | 864,000 | - | - | 864,000 |
Guatemala | SFP | - | 847,200 | - | 847,200 |
Tajikistan | AMC | 732,000 | - | - | 732,000 |
Tunisia | AMC | - | 592,800 | 93,600 | 686,400 |
Papua New Guinea | AMC | 684,000 | - | - | 684,000 |
Togo | AMC | 636,000 | - | - | 636,000 |
Sierra Leone | AMC | 612,000 | - | - | 612,000 |
Laos | AMC | 564,000 | - | - | 564,000 |
Dominican Republic | SFP | - | 542,400 | - | 542,400 |
Jordan | SFP | - | 511,200 | - | 511,200 |
Azerbaijan | SFP | - | 506,400 | - | 506,400 |
Kyrgyz Republic | AMC | 504,000 | - | - | 504,000 |
Nicaragua | AMC | 504,000 | - | - | 504,000 |
Honduras | AMC | - | 496,800 | - | 496,800 |
Congo, Rep. | AMC | 420,000 | - | - | 420,000 |
Liberia | AMC | 384,000 | - | - | 384,000 |
El Salvador | AMC | - | 324,000 | 51,480 | 375,480 |
Central African Republic | AMC | 372,000 | - | - | 372,000 |
Mauritania | AMC | 360,000 | - | - | 360,000 |
Paraguay | SFP | - | 357,600 | - | 357,600 |
Serbia | SFP | - | 345,600 | - | 345,600 |
Libya | SFP | - | 343,200 | - | 343,200 |
Lebanon | SFP | - | 340,800 | - | 340,800 |
Singapore | SFP | - | 288,000 | - | 288,000 |
West Bank and Gaza | AMC | - | 240,000 | 37,440 | 277,440 |
Costa Rica | SFP | - | 254,400 | - | 254,400 |
Oman | SFP | - | 254,400 | - | 254,400 |
New Zealand | SFP | - | 249,600 | - | 249,600 |
Panama | SFP | - | 216,000 | - | 216,000 |
Georgia | SFP | - | 184,800 | 29,250 | 214,050 |
Mongolia | AMC | - | 163,200 | 25,740 | 188,940 |
Moldova | AMC | - | 156,000 | 24,570 | 180,570 |
Gambia, The | AMC | 180,000 | - | - | 180,000 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | SFP | - | 153,600 | 23,400 | 177,000 |
Uruguay | SFP | - | 172,800 | - | 172,800 |
Lesotho | AMC | 156,000 | - | - | 156,000 |
Armenia | SFP | - | 146,400 | - | 146,400 |
Jamaica | SFP | - | 146,400 | - | 146,400 |
Guinea | AMC | 144,000 | - | - | 144,000 |
Qatar | SFP | - | 144,000 | - | 144,000 |
Albania | SFP | - | 141,600 | - | 141,600 |
Namibia | SFP | - | 127,200 | - | 127,200 |
Botswana | SFP | - | 117,600 | - | 117,600 |
Bhutan | AMC | 108,000 | - | 5,850 | 113,850 |
Cabo Verde | AMC | 108,000 | - | 5,850 | 113,850 |
Comoros | AMC | 108,000 | - | - | 108,000 |
Djibouti | AMC | 108,000 | - | - | 108,000 |
Eswatini | AMC | 108,000 | - | - | 108,000 |
Solomon Islands | AMC | 108,000 | - | - | 108,000 |
North Macedonia | SFP | - | 103,200 | - | 103,200 |
Maldives | AMC | 108,000 | -5,850 | 102,150 | |
Bahamas | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Bahrain | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Barbados | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Belize | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Brunei Darussalam | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Fiji | AMC | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Guyana | AMC | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Kosovo | AMC | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Mauritius | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Timor-Leste | AMC | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Trinidad and Tobago | SFP | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Vanuatu | AMC | - | 100,800 | - | 100,800 |
Sao Tome and Principe | AMC | 96,000 | - | - | 96,000 |
Montenegro | SFP | - | 84,000 | - | 84,000 |
Samoa | AMC | - | 79,200 | - | 79,200 |
Suriname | SFP | - | 79,200 | - | 79,200 |
St. Lucia | AMC | - | 74,400 | - | 74,400 |
Kiribati | AMC | - | 48,000 | - | 48,000 |
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | AMC | - | 48,000 | - | 48,000 |
Grenada | AMC | - | 45,600 | - | 45,600 |
St. Vincent and the Grenadines | AMC | - | 45,600 | - | 45,600 |
Tonga | AMC | - | 43,200 | - | 43,200 |
Antigua and Barbuda | SFP | - | 40,800 | - | 40,800 |
Dominica | AMC | - | 28,800 | - | 28,800 |
Andorra | SFP | - | 26,400 | - | 26,400 |
Marshall Islands | AMC | - | 24,000 | - | 24,000 |
St. Kitts and Nevis | SFP | - | 21,600 | - | 21,600 |
Monaco | SFP | - | 7,200 | - | 7,200 |
Nauru | SFP | - | 7,200 | - | 7,200 |
Tuvalu | AMC | - | 4,800 | - | 4,800 |
Participants (donors)
COVAX is principally funded by rich Western countries.[8] As of 19 February 2021, 30 countries have signed commitment agreements to the COVAX Facility as well as the European Union.
Although mainly funded by governments ("Official Development Assistance"), the COVAX scheme is also funded by private-sector and philanthropic contributions, and recipient countries may share some costs for vaccines and delivery.[10]
Donor | Contributions |
---|---|
United States | 2,500 |
Germany | 1,093 |
United Kingdom | 735 |
European Union | 489 |
Japan | 200 |
Canada | 181 |
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | 156 |
Saudi Arabia | 153 |
Norway | 141 |
France | 122 |
Italy | 104 |
Australia | 61 |
Spain | 61 |
Netherlands | 37 |
Austria | 32 |
Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin | 30 |
Sweden | 24 |
Anonymous Foundation | 22 |
Switzerland | 22 |
New Zealand | 12 |
Kuwait | 10 |
Qatar | 10 |
Shell | 10 |
South Korea | 10 |
TikTok | 10 |
Denmark | 8 |
Belgium | 5 |
Ireland | 5 |
Singapore | 5 |
Wise | 5 |
Soccer Aid | 4 |
Thistledown Foundation | 4 |
Greece | 2 |
Iceland | 2 |
Colombia | 1 |
KSRelief | 1 |
Luxembourg | 1 |
Mastercard | 1 |
Estonia | 0.1 |
Monaco | 0.1 |
Nikkei, Inc. | 1 |
Medline International | 0.02 |
Bhutan | 0.01 |
Total | 6,268 |
European Union
As of November 2020, the European Union (EU) and EU members have pledged €870 million to COVAX.[17] The European Commission (EC) brought the EU into COVAX on 31 August 2020 and pledged €400 million in guarantees,[18] but did not state how this money would be paid out or its conditions.[19] The EC pledged a further €100 million from the 11th European Development Fund to COVAX via a grant to GAVI on 12 November. Individual EU member states have also made additional pledges; France donated an additional €100 million, Spain an additional €50 million, and Finland an additional €2 million.[17]
According to the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, Germany has joined COVAX through the European Union and has pledged €300 million for the treatment of COVID-19 in developing nations.[20]
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has provided £548 million to COVAX.[21] The United Kingdom was the biggest single donor to COVAX-AMC until being overtaken by Germany and the United States.[22]
United States
As part of its isolationist America First policy,[23] the Trump administration stated on 1 September 2020 that it would not join COVAX because of its association with the WHO,[24][25] from which it had begun a year-long withdrawal process on 6 July 2020.[26]
Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election; on his first day in office, on January 20, 2021, the Biden administration announced that the United States would remain in the WHO and would join COVAX. This reversal of American policy (announced by Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President) was welcomed globally.[27][28] On 19 February, the US pledged $4 billion, making it the single largest contributor to the fund.[29]
References
- ^ "COVAX explained". gavi.org. GAVI. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
- ^ World Health Organization (15 July 2020). "More than 150 countries engaged in COVID-19 vaccine global access facility". Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ Widianto, Stanley (January 29, 2021). "COVAX to ship enough shots for 3% of poor countries' populations in H1 - WHO". Reuters. Jakarta. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
- ^ "Comirnaty EPAR". European Medicines Agency (EMA). Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "WHO issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine and emphasizes need for equitable global access". World Health Organization (WHO) (Press release). 31 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
- ^ World Health Organization (24 August 2020). "172 countries and multiple candidate vaccines engaged in COVID-19 vaccine Global Access Facility" (Press release). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ World Health Organization (18 December 2020). "COVAX Announces additional deals to access promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates; plans global rollout starting Q1 2021" (Press release). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ a b c Gabriele Steinhauser, Ghana Is First Nation to Get Free Covid-19 Vaccines Under Covax Plan, Wall Street Journal (February 24, 2021).
- ^ a b 92 low- and middle-income economies eligible to get access to COVID-19 vaccines through Gavi COVAX AMC, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (31 July 2020).
- ^ a b c d Seth Berkley. "The Gavi COVAX AMC Explained". Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
- ^ Jerving, Sara (3 February 2021). "COVAX releases country-by-country of vaccine distribution figures". Devex. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "COVAX publishes first interim distribution forecast". Gavi. 3 February 2021.
- ^ a b c "The Covax Facility: Interim Distribution Forecast – latest as of 3 February 2021" (PDF). COVAX. 3 February 2021.
- ^ "World's first COVID-19 vaccination compensation scheme launched". Health Europa. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Covid: WHO scheme Covax delivers first vaccines". BBC. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Key Outcomes: COVAX AMC 2021" (PDF). Gavi.
- ^ a b European Commission (12 November 2020). "EU increases its contribution to COVAX to €500 million to secure COVID-19 vaccines for low and middle-income countries" (Press release). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ European Commission (31 August 2020). "Coronavirus Global Response: Commission joins the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX)" (Press release). Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ Guarascio, Francesco; Nebehay, Stephanie (31 August 2020). "EU offers 400 million euros to WHO-led COVID-19 vaccine initiative". Reuters. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "Corona-Impfstoff weltweit fair verteilen: GAVI kündigt erste Lieferung von Impfdosen über COVAX an". Federal Foreign Office (in German). Federal Republic of Germany. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ "Corona-Covax: How will Covid vaccines be shared with poorer countries? an". BBC News. BBC. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "Key Outcomes: COVAX AMC" (PDF). Gavi.
- ^ Williams, Abigail (3 September 2020). "U.S. opts out of WHO-linked global COVID-19 vaccine effort". NBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ Beer, Thomas (1 September 2020). "U.S. Won't Join Global Coronavirus Vaccine Effort Because It's Led By The WHO". Forbes. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ Rauhala, Emily; Abutaleb, Yasmeen (1 September 2020). "U.S. says it won't join WHO-linked effort to develop, distribute coronavirus vaccine". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ Smith, Allan; Perlmutter-Gumbiner, Elyse (7 July 2020). "Trump administration gives formal notice of withdrawal from WHO". NBC News. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ Nebehay, Stephanie (21 January 2021). "U.S., staying in WHO, to join COVID vaccine push for poor nations: Fauci". Reuters. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ Donato Paolo Mancini (21 January 2021). "US joins global vaccine efforts on Biden's first day". Financial Times.
- ^ "Covid vaccines: G7 increase support for Covax scheme". BBC News. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.