Nearly one year after the coronavirus outbreak began in China to quickly spread to the entire globe, the countries are looking to have the first supplies of vaccines ready within weeks.
Three companies including Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca are on the verge of delivering the first supplies of their vaccines, which have proven highly effective in trials conducted over the summer.
While Pfizer and Moderna have reported identical 95% effectiveness in readying people to keep off COVID-19, AstraZeneca has reported 90% success rate. The first two are likely to cost around $ 20.00 to $40.00 for each shot, AstraZeneca shots will cost around $5.00 each.
Although the cost does not appear to be hefty, it is likely to strain the developing and the least developed countries as the governments need to buy millions of doses to administer to their populations.
Sensing a mad rush for vaccines, the United Nations health organization this week called for ensuring the poorest also get the vaccine.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said successful vaccines must be distributed equitably, and that $4.3 billion was needed to help fund a sharing scheme.
“With the latest positive news from vaccine trials, the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel is growing brighter,” Tedros told a press conference from Geneva.
The WHO leader asked governments to make sure that every country gets vaccines, and he welcomed statements in that regard from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies on the weekend.
“There is now a real risk that the poorest and most vulnerable people will be trampled in the stampede for vaccines,” Tedros warned.
The WHO leader praised the scientific community for the fast-paced success in making the vaccine, he said the scientists had set “a new standard for vaccine development” and now the international community must set “a new standard for access”.
“The urgency with which vaccines have been developed must be matched by the same urgency to distribute them fairly”, he said, warning of a real risk that the poorest, and most vulnerable will be “trampled in the stampede” to get innoculated.
WHO and its partners had established the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator back in April. (The Access to COVID-19 Tools — ACT-Accelerator — is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.)
“The ACT Accelerator has supported the fastest, most coordinated and successful global effort in history to develop vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics”, he attested.
Currently, 50 diagnostics are under evaluation; rapid antigen diagnostics are now available for low and middle income countries; while life-saving treatments are being rolled out and new medicines tested.
Moreover, 187 countries are taking part in the COVAX facility, to collaborate on the procurement and rollout of vaccines, “ensuring the best possible prices, volumes and timing for all countries”, he said.
WHO says that $4.3 billion is still needed to support mass procurement and delivery, tests and treatments this year and another $23.8 billion would will be required in 2021.
“This isn’t charity, it’s the fastest and smartest way to end the pandemic and drive the global economic recovery”, he stressed.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says if medical solutions can be made available faster and more widely, they could lead to a cumulative increase in global income of almost $9 trillion by the end of 2025.
