US "Large Donation to COVAX"... Opens Path for Low-Income Countries to Secure Vaccines (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min, Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The United States has announced it will donate vaccines to the international vaccine procurement project COVAX facility (hereafter COVAX), opening the way for low-income countries to secure vaccines, which had faced difficulties due to India's export suspension.

Gail Smith, White House COVID-19 Coordinator, stated at a press conference on the 19th (local time), "A significant portion of the vaccine allocation will definitely be included through COVAX."

The volume mentioned by Coordinator Smith refers to the 80 million doses announced by U.S. President Joe Biden on the 17th to be supported overseas, including 20 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna, and Janssen vaccines, and 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines previously promised.

The United States plans to ask other countries to join this movement. Coordinator Smith said, "At the upcoming G7 summit in the UK next month, we plan to discuss the large-scale vaccine support needed to control the pandemic," adding, "Once the U.S. begins releasing vaccines, other countries will also release vaccines or increase the amount of support."

COVAX has set a goal to secure over 2 billion doses of vaccines by the end of this year and supply them to developing countries such as those in Africa. However, the amount supplied so far is less than 100 million doses. This is due to India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, suspending vaccine exports from March 25 to supply domestically as COVID-19 cases surged.

India's vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) initially announced that vaccine supply would resume around June, but according to sources from the Indian government, it is expected to be delayed until at least October. Due to India's export suspension, COVAX is projected to face shortages of 140 million doses by the end of this month and 190 million doses by the end of next month.

If the U.S. and G7 support vaccines, it is expected to relieve COVAX. UNICEF, responsible for the logistics of COVAX vaccines, stated, "If the G7 shares just 20% of their available vaccines from June to August, they can donate 153 million doses," adding, "These countries will not face difficulties in their own vaccination efforts even with this sharing."

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