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Experts told Reuters that the G7 plan to donate 1 billion doses of vaccine to poorer countries has limited impact because it contains some of the previous commitments, but it still provides a small lifeline for the global vaccine purchase system.
The United States announced Thursday that it will donate 500 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech SE vaccines as part of the G7 commitment.
Many of the promised doses will flow through Covax, a global vaccine procurement system supported by the World Health Organization and the vaccine alliance Gavi.
Promises do not represent brand new resources, and the amount donated is far below the 5 to 6 billion needed by poorer countries. In addition, the plan did not address distribution gaps that could make it difficult to provide doses.
But experts say that this is still a much-needed impetus for Covax. So far, Covax has distributed only 83 million lenses worldwide.
Covax has been working hard to ensure delivery because rich countries stock enough vaccines to vaccinate their populations multiple times.
Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center of the Think Tank Strategy and International Research Center, said: “It will save Covax from the current very terrible predicament, so this is a very important step.”
According to a spokesperson, the UK’s 100 million dose pledge is “new”. However, the EU’s 100 million dose pledge was made at a summit in May, and the US pledge partially replaced the earlier pledge to directly fund Covax.
According to a White House official, the United States has donated $2 billion to Covax. In February, the Biden administration pledged to provide another 2 billion U.S. dollars. But according to the official, the second $2 billion will now be used to purchase Pfizer drugs, along with $1.5 billion in additional funds.
Even if these lenses are acquired and shipped, they could overwhelm the limited distribution infrastructure of developing countries, especially if many lenses are delivered together later this year.
The World Bank provided 12 billion U.S. dollars of credit to developing countries to build vaccine distribution infrastructure, but governments only withdrew about 3 billion U.S. dollars.
“Low-income countries are cautious about increasing debt. This is reality,” said Edwin Ihoria, executive director of One Campaign, a non-profit organization focused on poverty and public health.
Others believe that rich countries should find a way to deliver vaccines faster, especially in countries with high vaccination rates, including vaccines produced by Johnson & Johnson, which are about to expire.
“When you only see a graph of the increase in vaccination coverage in wealthy countries and the acceleration of this happening, and then when you see the pace of developing countries, it is so obvious,” Senior Vice President Kate Elder (Kate Elder) said. Vaccine policy consultant for Médecins Sans Frontières. “A dose is needed now.”
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