Rajeev Choudhury

The United Nation led COVAX programme aimed at supplying COVID19 vaccines to the people of 144 low and low-income countries around the world has received one billion doses of COVID19 vaccines on January 15, 2022, a statement released by the World Health Organisation said.

This feat was achieved with the supply of 1.1 million COVID19 vaccines to Rwanda, the statement added.

However, the organisation reminded that out of 194 member states of the WHO, 34 countries have vaccinated less than 10% of their population, and 88 less than 40%.

Noting that hoarding and stockpiling of the vaccines has been a major reason for COVAX’s not being able to meet its goal of vaccinating 40% of the world population by the end of 2021, the WHO said that a lack of sharing of licenses, technology and knowhow by pharmaceutical companies have led to non-utilisation of the manufacturing capacity.

COVAX is working with governments, manufacturers and partners to ensure that when countries receive vaccines they can get them to people quickly.

Seth Berkley, the Chief Executive Officer of  GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance termed the delivery as a key milestone in the largest and most rapid global vaccine rollout in history.

“If the world unites to ensure adults in lower-income countries are immunized at levels achieved in high-income countries, between 940,000 and 1.27 million deaths could be prevented in the next year,” Dr Berkley added.

It may be noted that while the vaccination rates in the 11 high-income countries have reached 51.7% of all populations 15 years and above, some African countries like Chad and Tanzania are yet to begin their vaccination drive.

The WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been repeatedly appealing to the rich countries and global pharmaceutical companies to share vaccines and technology so that they can be manufactured widely and the target of vaccinating 40% of the world population can be achieved by the end of the first half of 2022.