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324,000 doses of COVAX vaccines arrive in Cambodia

Since frontline health and social care workers are not just at risk of being infected but also pose a higher risk of transmitting the virus, it recommends they are initially prioritised. With demand for COVID-19 vaccines likely to outstrip supply, at least initially, it estimates that if COVID-19 vaccines are equally distributed to countries and territories until all have enough to protect at least 3% of their population in the first half of 2021, this should be sufficient to protect every health and social care worker on the planet. Then as availability increases through 2021 and beyond, distribution should continue equally until all countries have enough to protect at least 20% of their population, which should cover all high-risk groups prioritized in most countries and territories. The only exception is those countries and territories that have opted to receive fewer doses than the amount required to cover 20% of their population.

“COVAX vaccines are here! Congratulations to Cambodia and its people! Cambodia is amongst the first countries in the Western Pacific Region to receive the first batch of COVAX vaccines.” Unicef Cambodia

WHAT DO COVAX AMC COUNTRIES NEED TO DO NOW?

For this to happen, a number of things need to be done both at the global and COVAX levels, but also within COAVAX AMC countries. At the COVAX end, first the Facility needs its upfront payments from higher-income economies, in order to get manufacturing capacity in place, and Gavi needs to secure the remaining funding needed for the initial phase of the COVAX AMC. It will be important that enough funding is secured by the end of 2021 to ensure that agreements can be put in place with manufacturers so that they are in a position to produce enough doses for the COVAX AMC as soon as production begins. This has already been used for over a decade to help fund other Gavi-supported vaccines and accelerated access to hundreds of millions of doses to children in poor countries, and has also helped fund the development of COVID-19 vaccines through Gavi’s COVAX partner organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

In addition to funding, Gavi needs COVAX AMC economies to be fully engaged and start now to prepare for delivery. Introducing a new vaccine is a highly complex process with many important steps involved, including: national regulatory pathways; human resources and training; logistics and cold chain; service delivery to establish priority target populations; data collection and monitoring to ensure coverage is adequate and safe; and social mobilization and community engagement, so people are aware of what’s going on and have confidence in COVID-19 vaccines.

To help each economy get to this point, Gavi is providing up to US$ 150 million in initial funding to jumpstart support for COVAX AMC-eligible country readiness in preparation for COVID-19 vaccines delivery, in the form of planning, technical assistance and cold chain equipment. In addition to this, the Alliance has developed a number of tools to help countries prepare, including the Country Readiness Assessment tool. This will enable each country to develop a national vaccination deployment plan, to assess their capacity for vaccine storage and distribution, and, in the context of the infodemic of misinformation about vaccine safety we are experiencing, help them prepare a comprehensive communication plan, to ensure people understand why COVID-19 vaccination is so important and who will get priority.

In time, as more doses are produced, COVID-19 vaccines will be made available to wider groups if appropriate. But such a phased approach will be important if we are to turn a corner with this crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest challenge of our time, and the COVAX Facility and the COVAX AMC are the only solutions to bring to a swift end to this crisis. COVAX is the biggest multilateral effort since the Paris climate agreement and the world’s best hope of ending the pandemic, because it is the only way to protect people in all corners of the world from COVID-19, and ensure that we achieve one world, protected.

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