WHO urges countries to support "Covax" vaccine scheme

The World Health Organization's chief scientist said on Thursday that any country that supports the Covax financing initiative has a better chance of getting a successful Covid-19 vaccine.

Soumya Swaminathan told a news briefing in Geneva that the more countries that joined Covax, a scheme designed to guarantee fast and equitable access globally to Covid-19 vaccines, the greater its chances of success.

More than 75 countries have expressed an interest in joining Covax, which is co-led by the GAVI vaccines alliance, the WHO and the CEPI Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Its aim is to deliver 2 billion doses of effective, approved Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2021.

Some global health agencies are concerned about wealthier countries going it alone in the race for a coronavirus vaccine, striking deals with drugmakers to secure millions of doses of promising candidates for their own citizens.