Poorer countries may be far behind in the race of accessing ample Covid-19 vaccine doses for their population. According to a study reported by PTI, high-income countries currently hold a confirmed 3.8 billion doses as compared to 1.7 billion doses held by lower-middle-income countries.
Canada and the UK have each struck deals for over 350 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from seven developers, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.
A large number of advance market commitments (AMCs) were made by countries and multilateral partnerships had expressed eagerness to reserve vaccine supply even before any candidates were in the market.
“High-income countries currently hold a confirmed 3.8 billion doses, upper-middle-income countries hold 829 million doses, and lower-middle-income countries hold more than 1.7 billion doses,” according to the report.
The researchers noted that a flurry of nearly 200 Covid-19 vaccine candidates is moving forward through the development and clinical trials processes at an unprecedented speed.
The analysis doesn’t include Russia and China, both of which have their own vaccine programmes for their citizens.
More than 10 candidates are already in Phase III large-scale trials and several have received emergency or limited authorisation. Meanwhile, Britain has started rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The UK is the first Western country to start vaccinating its general population in what was hailed as a decisive watershed in defeating the coronavirus.
The researchers said they have not been able to find evidence of any direct deals made by low-income countries, suggesting that such countries will be entirely reliant on the 20 per cent population coverage from COVAX.
COVAX is a global initiative led by the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and international vaccine alliance organization Gavi that aims to bring governments and vaccine manufacturers together to ensure all countries have access to Covid-19 vaccines once they become available. Duke researchers said some of the purchased candidates may prove to be unsuccessful, adding countries that can afford to are purchasing a portfolio of vaccines, in hopes that one or more will get through the regulatory process.
(With PTI inputs)