As the UK celebrates its first COVID-19 vaccinations, the JPIT enquiry inbox has been receiving emails from church members asking if lower-income nations will be able to access vaccines and, if so, how quickly. <\/p>\n
The first hurdle is licencing one or more vaccines for COVID. The UK has given the BioNTech vaccine emergency use authorisation, allowing it to be used widely in the UK. \u00a0Low income countries however tend to follow the US and the EU regulators who are (exceptionally quickly) going through their normal processes. This means that they are likely to reach a conclusion in the next few weeks. <\/p>\n
It appears likely that other vaccines currently in the
\ndevelopment pipeline will be licenced but approval takes time and cannot be
\nguaranteed.<\/p>\n
The BioNTec vaccine needs to be stored at -70oC from manufacture until use \u2013 although can be kept in a regular fridge for the final few days before use. This is a difficult cold chain to manage in a high-income country such as the UK and would require considerable time and investment to be workable in many lower-income nations. <\/p>\n
The hope is other less temperature sensitive vaccines are licenced and, if so, they are likely to be more useable outside of developed nations. Currently the most promising candidate which doesn\u2019t require such a rigorous cold chain is the Oxford University Adenovirus recombinant.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN-backed
\nvaccine alliance (Gavi) alongside, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness
\nInnovations (Cepi) set up a program called Covax. Its aim is to ensure
\nequitable worldwide distribution of vaccines by providing collective purchasing
\nfacilities and mechanisms to expedite research and manufacture.<\/p>\n
The hope was that all nations would join and purchase through the scheme with the higher income countries subsidising the lower-income countries. However, higher-income nations led by the US, Japan and the UK preferred instead to buy direct from manufacturers \u2013 guaranteeing rapid supply for their nations.<\/p>\n
COVAX aims to have suitable vaccines rolled out
\nsimultaneously in developing and developed nations, however it is clear that access
\nto vaccines is going to be massively greater in richer nations for some time. This
\nbecame inevitable when wealthy nations bought direct from manufacturers rather
\nthan through COVAX.<\/p>\n
The IMF has estimated that the amount of investment required
\nto counteract COVID\u2019s economic damage is between $9,000Bn and $12,000Bn. The
\nestimated cost of vaccinating the world\u2019s population is around $35Bn \u2013 a lot of
\nmoney, but in economic context an extraordinarily good investment.<\/p>\n
COVAX has the objective of supplying 2Bn doses of COVID vaccine and distributing them equitably in 2021. It has raised $2Bn to fund the first stage of the plan \u2013 the \u201cadvance market commitment\u201d which secures access to vaccine supplies. It requires a further $5Bn in funding over the next year to fund the vaccination program. <\/p>\n
Coincidently, just over $5Bn was cut from next year\u2019s
\nInternational Aid budget when the Government decided to break its commitment to
\nspend 0.7% of GDP on Aid.<\/p>\n
The World Bank has offered around $12Bn in loans to pay for
\nvaccination, and other financing is arriving. However, it is clear that
\ncountries with few resources have been hit hard by COVID. Additional loans and
\nfinancing will be needed for rebuilding and development, as well as
\nvaccination. Now is the time when wealthy nations are needed to offer support.
\nIt is regrettable that the UK government has chosen to step back and cut
\nfunding instead.<\/p>\n
The post Vaccinating the World<\/a> appeared first on Joint Public Issues Team<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the UK celebrates its first COVID-19 vaccinations, the JPIT enquiry inbox has been receiving emails from church members asking if lower-income nations will be able to access vaccines and, if so, how quickly. Licencing vaccines The first hurdle is licencing one or more vaccines for COVID. The UK has given the BioNTech vaccine emergency […]
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