Full-fledged supply of corona vaccine to Africa…”The prelude to the end of the pandemic”

Input 2021.02.25 10:20

The spread of the corona vaccine to Africa, which had been concentrated in advanced countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Switzerland, began in earnest. It is through the COVAX facility, a vaccine joint purchase and distribution program of the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to Reuters news agency on the 24th (local time), 600,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine secured by Kovacs arrived in Ghana, Africa that day. The arrived vaccine was produced by Serum Institute (SII), India. The Atrazeneca vaccine is a vaccine that can be stored at room temperature, unlike Pfizer, Moder, or vaccines that require cryogenic conditions, so it is easy to distribute to developing countries where cold chains are difficult to maintain. It is one of the vaccines.

According to Ghanaian health authorities, the vaccine delivered on the day will be given priority to frontline medical workers and elderly people aged 60 or older.

On this day, UNICEF’s executive director Henrietta Poe announced a joint statement between UNICEF and WHO, saying, “Today is a historic moment that marks the prelude to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (a global pandemic of infectious disease).” “It has kept the promise of Kovacs to keep less wealthy countries from falling behind.”

The delivery of this vaccine is meaningful in that it is the first vaccine distribution of Cobax Facility in developing countries. COVAX Facility is a vaccine supply organization established in June last year by the WHO, the Global Vaccine Immunization Association (GAVI), and the Infectious Disease Innovation Association (CEPI) to distribute the Corona 19 vaccine equally to developing countries, rather than monopolizing it to developed countries.

Pharmaceutical companies have developed corona vaccines to respond to global disasters, but most of the vaccines have been distributed only in developed countries. The WHO announced on the 6th that “three-quarters of vaccinations have been done only in 10 countries, accounting for nearly 60% of global GDP,” and “in 130 countries with a total population of 2.5 billion people, no dose has been administered yet.” did.

Mark Suzman, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation founded by Bill Gates, said, “It may be too late to distribute the vaccine fairly, because of the large-scale deals that developed countries have with pharmaceutical companies.”

Cobax Facility plans to vaccinate 20% of people in 92 countries in the world’s least developed countries through donations by the end of 2021, and provide vaccines to middle-income countries through their own funds.

After taking office, US President Joe Biden promised to donate 4 billion dollars (about 4.4 trillion won) to Kovacs. COVAX aims to distribute 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine to low- and middle-income countries around the world through these donations.

Countries belonging to Kovacs will be distributed in proportion to the population. For example, Afghanistan, which has a large population, receives 3 million servings, while Namibia, a relatively small population, receives 130,000 servings. Palestine is also scheduled to receive vaccines through Kovax in March, and low-income Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Iraq, also belong to Kovax.

Hassan Damruji, deputy director of global policy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who has donated 1.75 billion dollars (about 1.93 trillion won) so far to respond to the corona in developing countries, told CNBC on the same day, “Generally, vaccines are developed “It usually takes decades to reach the world’s poorest people after it was first developed in the world,” he said. “It’s surprisingly important” for vaccine distribution programs like Cobax Facility. “We want to close the gap between rich and poor,” he said.