UK Signals Start of Global Vaccine Race... US Expected to Rush Approval

Bloomberg News on 10 Billion Doses
"Enough to Vaccinate Half the World's Population"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] On the 8th (local time), the United Kingdom became the first Western country to start mass vaccination against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). With already 10 billion doses of vaccines purchased worldwide, it is expected that the country that first approves the use of vaccines domestically will earn the title of the 'second country to vaccinate.'

According to the Duke University Global Health Innovation Center (GHIC) data on the 8th, as of the 30th of last month, the total number of vaccine doses for which countries have completed purchase contracts with pharmaceutical companies is 7.3 billion doses. One dose corresponds to one vaccination. There are 2.5 billion doses under negotiation or as additional purchase options in existing contracts. In total, nearly 10 billion doses of vaccines have already been sold.

Bloomberg News analyzed about 80 vaccine purchase contracts whose details were disclosed on the day and reported, "The owners of 7.85 billion doses of vaccines, enough for about half of the world's population, have already been decided."

UK Latecomer Competition... US Leading

The country most likely to follow the UK in starting vaccinations is the United States. The US has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide. Daily confirmed cases exceed 220,000, setting new records. Moreover, the US lost face as its domestic pharmaceutical company Pfizer was beaten by the UK in obtaining emergency use authorization for the vaccine developed jointly with Germany's BioNTech.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will review the emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a meeting on the 10th (local time). Earlier, Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, the FDA's superior agency, stated on the 6th that if the advisory committee recommends approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the FDA could announce its decision within a few days. The US has signed a purchase contract for a total of 600 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The US government has also secured 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. The emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine is expected to be decided at the FDA advisory committee meeting on the 17th. Additionally, the US has purchased vaccines from AstraZeneca-Oxford University (300 million doses), Novavax (110 million doses), Johnson & Johnson (100 million doses), and Sanofi-GlaxoSmithKline (100 million doses).

Canada and Brazil Also Rush to Approve Vaccine Use

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Canada, neighboring the US, is also expected to approve emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine around the same time as the US. Canada is known to have secured a total of 266 million doses of vaccines, including 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference the day before that they plan to distribute 249,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the end of the year and expect the vaccine to receive health authority approval as early as the 10th.

Brazil, which has suffered greatly from COVID-19, is accelerating vaccination efforts, with S?o Paulo state planning to start administering China's Sinovac vaccine from January next year. However, President Jair Bolsonaro recently stated on Twitter that while he promises all citizens will receive the vaccine free of charge, he opposes mandatory vaccination. Brazil has secured 46 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, and 100 million doses of Russia's 'Sputnik V' vaccine.

EU Secures 1.4 Billion Doses, Japan 290 Million Doses

The European Union (EU) has secured 1.405 billion doses of vaccines. By company, they hold AstraZeneca-Oxford University (400 million doses), Sanofi-GSK (300 million doses), Germany's CureVac (225 million doses), Johnson & Johnson (200 million doses), Pfizer-BioNTech (200 million doses), and Moderna (80 million doses).

Japan has secured 290 million doses of vaccines, including AstraZeneca-Oxford University (120 million doses), Pfizer-BioNTech (120 million doses), and Moderna (50 million doses). India has already purchased 2.2 billion doses of vaccines, including AstraZeneca-Oxford University (1 billion doses), Novavax (1 billion doses), and Sputnik V (200 million doses).

South Korea's government has secured vaccines for up to 44 million people through global pharmaceutical companies and multinational coalitions. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 10 million doses will be secured through the international vaccine development and supply project 'COVAX Facility,' and 34 million doses through individual negotiations with multinational pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Janssen, and Moderna. The quantities by pharmaceutical company are 20 million doses of AstraZeneca, 20 million doses of Pfizer, 20 million doses of Moderna, and 4 million doses of Janssen.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.