COVAX, the international coalition that is responsible for making Covid-19 vaccines accessible to countries around the world has surpassed the milestone of 1.5 billion deliveries.
It has said that the COVID-19 vaccines delivered around the world had reached 1.5 billion, following a shipment of 2.26 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to Tanzania.
A little over 15 months since its first international delivery to Ghana, COVAX has now shipped COVID-19 vaccines to 145 countries across the world.
Nearly 90% of these have been fully funded doses delivered to lower-income countries supported by the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
COVAX is the major supplier of COVID-19 vaccines in low-income countries and humanitarian settings.
As the largest and most complex global vaccination effort in history, COVAX’s work has helped raise the proportion of people in 92 lower-income countries protected by a full course of vaccines to 46% on average.
Dr. Seth Berkley,CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which manages the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), and leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX, said “This is a significant milestone for COVAX, set up as an unprecedented global collaboration during the worst public health emergency in a hundred years, but more importantly, we are proud to have contributed to the incredible achievements of lower-income countries, who have administered nearly 4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in a truly historic global rollout.”
“Tanzania is a fitting example of the hurdles that have been overcome and the challenges that remain: the pandemic is not over, and we must remain committed at all levels to pushing coverage rates higher, focusing on ensuring those at high risk are fully protected. With plentiful global supply now available to support this effort, the next 3-4 months are crucial.
We call on countries to set ambitious targets backed by concrete plans for implementation and on all partners to provide countries with the resources needed to accelerate and expand national strategies,” Berkley added.
COVAX said it remains committed to working with partners to ensure lower-income countries can access both vaccines and the support needed to turn these vaccines into vaccinations.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
