The global mechanism for securing vaccines for poor countries, COVAX, announced on Thursday that it needs an additional $2 billion by June 2 in order to secure vaccines for 30% of the populations in 92 poor countries. COVAX stated in an urgent call, "We need an additional $2 billion so that we can increase vaccination coverage (...) to 30% of the population" in the poorest countries where vaccines are provided for free. It added, "We need (this funding) by June 2 so we can reserve doses and deliver them during the remaining period of 2021 until the beginning of 2022."
This quantity of vaccines adds to the 1.3 billion doses COVAX had previously announced its intention to provide to poor countries in 2021 to immunize healthcare workers and the most vulnerable populations. So far, COVAX has delivered 70 million vaccine doses to 126 countries, but the mechanism is facing a significant shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. India was supposed to supply the majority of the vaccines under COVAX this year, but the pandemic's surge in the country led authorities to ban the export of doses for domestic use.
By the end of June, this mechanism will be short by 190 million doses compared to its original schedule. COVAX warned in its urgent call that "if we do not address the issue of dose shortages, the consequences could be catastrophic," emphasizing the need for urgent vaccine donations through the proven COVAX system. The mechanism thanked countries that pledged to provide vaccine doses, such as France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, and the UAE. The United States announced it would donate approximately 80 million vaccine doses - the largest amount donated by a single country - but Washington has yet to disclose where these vaccines will go and who will distribute them.
