Covax: available vaccines are lowered as countries …

The director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned on Monday that the amount of covid-19 vaccines available for the initiative Covax – the Global Vaccine Access Fund created to ensure fair distribution In every country – was reduced because “some rich countries” are trying to store doses and “they are contacting the manufacturers to get more vaccines.” Although last week G-7 member countries announced a contribution to Covax that will reach $ 7.5 billion, the WHO director has now said that “if we can’t buy vaccines, the money is useless“.

“Some rich countries are now contacting manufacturers to ensure access to additional doses of the vaccine, which affects Covax agreements and even the allocated amount has been reduced due to thisAdhanom Ghebreyesus warned at a press conference held in conjunction with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. As part of the G-7, Germany pledged last week to contribute $ 1.8 billion dollars to Covax, which, added as promised by the other six countries, it would reach a total of 7.5 billion.

“The promise is significant and will help us vaccinate as many as possible,” thanked the WHO director, while quickly stressing that “having money means nothing if you can’t use it for it. buy vaccines “:” We can only give them vaccines. are delivered whether high-income countries cooperate to comply with the agreements concluded by Covax. Before asking manufacturers for additional vaccines, they must ensure that their request does not violate these agreements, ”he said, but avoiding specifically mentioning countries that seek to monopolize doses.

Although he assured that today “more vaccines are under development, approval and production”, so that after allthere will be enough for everyone“, Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that” for now and Vaccines will be a limited resource for the rest of this year. We need to use them in the most strategic way possible. In this sense, he remarked that “if we do not end the pandemic everywhere, we will not stop it anywhere”, because “the longer the virus circulates, the more opportunities it will have. change shape. so that vaccines are less effective. “

The Covax Mechanism, made up of 172 countries and led by the UN, the Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, was created in April 2020 with the goal of: avoid uneven distribution of vaccines, through a financing system that allows low- and middle-income countries to access vaccines for at least 20 percent of their population. According to WHO forecasts, it should 337 million total doses to be distributed in 145 countries.

However, the vaccine shortage means that the first deliveries are delayed. The Latin American region has allocated a first batch of 35 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the first batch was due to start arriving in mid-February. Of this total, Argentina is expected to receive 2,275,200 in the first half of 2021.