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China’s decision to join the group of more than 170 countries participating in a massive international Covid-19 vaccination effort is a major boost for the prospect of equitable access to safe and effective Covid-19 prevention.
The collaboration, called Covax, is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness and Gavi, the vaccine alliance. Covax is the vaccine arm of the COVID-19 Tool Access Accelerator (ACT). “It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure that Covid-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both high-income and low-income countries,” reads the WHO’s description of the push.
As part of the effort to develop, produce and provide vaccines, Covax aims to distribute two billion approved and licensed doses worldwide by 2021. Nearly twenty candidate vaccines are already in the Covax portfolio or are being evaluated for use. inclusion. More than 90 low-income countries are eligible to receive a share of vaccines, regardless of their ability to pay.
No one is safe until everyone is safe
One of the goals of the collaboration is to ensure that frontline health workers and the most vulnerable people in all countries have early access as distribution begins. For anyone who believes that it is best to stockpile vaccines for their own country, Dr. Mike Ryan, director of WHO’s health emergencies program, has this message: “No one is safe until we are all safe.”
Although they often point to examples of countries that are implementing effective policies to manage the outbreak, including many in Africa, WHO officials are hesitant to criticize individual countries for their response to Covid-19. They point to science when answering questions from the media that the United States has one of the least effective policies in preventing the spread of Covid, the fact that the United States did not join the ACT Accelerator, or the Covax vaccine initiative, and the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from WHO membership.
Apply the tools we have to save lives now
Reinforcing the frequent message of WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ryan notes that the world is interconnected. Diseases know no national borders and economic recovery anywhere depends on a global trade network. Reacting on October 9 to the record single-day increase of more than 338,000 Covid-19 cases, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove tweeted, “Remember that the virus has been controlled in many countries and this staggering number is dominated by only a few countries.”
“We know a lot more now … but implementation is the challenge,” he told the October 9 WHO press conference on Covid-19. “This will continue to be difficult, while we try to find this balance” – making sure other diseases are treated, that people can earn a living, and that children are educated. But while they await the medical advances necessary to prevent and cure the infection, communities and decision makers can “apply the tools we have to break the chains of transmission,” he said.
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Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist who is a Covid-19 technical lead for the WHO, insists that Covid can be controlled, deaths can be prevented, and economies will recover. Answering questions at regular WHO briefings for the media and online ‘social’ events for the general public, she advocates for research that provides new insights into the virus on a daily basis. He always recites the mantra that he has repeated over and over again: “Find and treat each case and trace and isolate the contacts.” These basics, in combination with masks, social distancing, and handwashing, can save lives now and allow economies to function.
Editors’ Note: People around the world, including clinicians, national, provincial, state, or local policy makers, and people in communities, seek guidance – what to do and when to do it to balance health, economic and educational emergencies . The World Health Organization has a large body of continuously updated information on all aspects of Covid-19, including emerging research.
