LONDON • Nearly two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be shipped and flown to developing countries next year in a mammoth operation, the United Nations children's agency Unicef said yesterday, as world leaders vowed to ensure the fair distribution of vaccines.
Unicef said it was working with over 350 airlines and freight companies to deliver vaccines and one billion syringes to poor countries such as Burundi, Afghanistan and Yemen as part of Covax, a global Covid-19 vaccine allocation plan with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"This invaluable collaboration will go a long way to ensure that enough transport capacity is in place for this historic and mammoth operation," Ms Etleva Kadilli, director of Unicef's Supply Division, said in a statement.
Covax - co-led by the Gavi vaccine group, the WHO and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations - aims to discourage governments from hoarding Covid-19 vaccines and to focus on first vaccinating the most at risk in every country.
At a Group of 20 summit last weekend, leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies pledged to ensure the equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, drugs and tests so that poorer countries are not left out.
Even before the pandemic hit, access to vaccines was unequal, with around 20 million babies not receiving vaccines that could save them from serious diseases, death, disability and ill health, according to the WHO.
"We need all hands on deck as we get ready to deliver Covid-19 vaccine doses, syringes and more personal protective equipment to protect front-line workers around the globe," said Unicef's Ms Kadilli, who is working with the Pan American Health Organisation and the International Air Transport Association.
Unicef's role with Covax stems from its status as the single-largest vaccine buyer in the world. It said it procures more than two billion vaccine doses annually for routine immunisation and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries.
Drugmakers and research centres worldwide are racing to develop Covid-19 vaccines, with large global trials of several of the candidates - involving tens of thousands of participants - well under way.
Pfizer and BioNTech could secure emergency US and Euro-pean authorisation for their Covid-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed a 95 per cent success rate and no serious side effects.
Moderna last week released preliminary data for its vaccine showing 94.5 per cent effectiveness.
The better-than-expected results from the two vaccines, both developed with new messenger RNA technology, have raised hopes for an end to a pandemic that has killed more than 1.3 million people and wreaked havoc on economies and daily life.
REUTERS
