COVAX Unable To Accept New Vaccine Donations For Lack Of Funds To Cover Related Costs

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2022) COVAX, a global initiative to promote equitable access to vaccination against COVID-19, can no longer accept new vaccine donations due to the lack of funds to settle related costs, Seth Berkley, chief executive of the Gavi vaccine alliance, co-leading COVAX, told the Financial Times.

Earlier in the week, the Gavi addressed the global community calling for $5.2 billion in additional funding to enable it distribute up to 600 million doses and "to strengthen delivery systems in recipient countries, and cover essential ancillary costs."

According to Berkley, some donor countries do not absorb the indirect costs of the vaccine program, including syringes, disposal containers, transportation and insurance, thereby hampering vaccination in low income countries.

"We are in a position where we will not be able to accept more dose donations (that come without syringes or other accessory elements) unless we get more cash," Berkley told the Financial Times.

"It doesn't mean that we've spent every bit of the money that we got, but a lot of the money has to be held to pay for doses that we've made commitments on."

COVAX, launched in 2020, has distributed over 1 billion doses of COVID-19 across 144 countries and territories by January this year. The initiative has managed to accumulate $192 million for 2022, but it falls far short from the amount needed to curb the pandemic. According to the Gavi's estimates, in 2022 COVAX could save from 1-1.27 million people that could have died due to the pandemic, with the pandemic economic cost reduced by 50% in some countries, in the event of vaccines being rolled out swiftly.