Index – National – But where will the 7 billion vaccine doses come from?



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Already authorized or in test III. Phase-in vaccine manufacturers have slightly adjusted their production capacity in the short term, but if all goes according to plan, by the end of 2021, a third of the world’s population could still be vaccinated. The poorest countries, or states that have not booked vaccines on time, are not likely to receive the required amount until 2023 or 2024.

Of the manufacturers, Pfizer confirmed this week that it will produce 1.3 billion vaccines this year with expanded capacity. The other two manufacturers, AstraZeneca and Moderna, will have about 5.3 billion vaccines available by the end of the year, with a capacity of three billion and one billion this year. This means that between 2.6 and 3.1 billion people could be vaccinated, depending on whether AstraZeneca needs to be vaccinated in two equal doses in the long term, or if a second dose is sufficient a second time.

The Russians also started vaccinating people with their self-developed vaccine, Sputnik V. And the Gamaleja Institute in Moscow has announced that they can deliver another 500 million servings outside of Russia this year in addition to their own needs. That is, if you look at vaccines that have already been approved and are still being approved, it appears that a total of around 10 billion doses of vaccine have been previously tied.

Strange discrepancies in orders

The European Union of 27 and five other wealthy states have pledged almost half of this amount in advance. This, of course, includes the option of additional orders. Together, however, they make up only 13 percent of Earth’s population. If we look at who ordered the most vaccines per capita, we find Canada at the forefront, with 9 vaccines per person. China, on the other hand, is slipping to the end of the line and this is mainly due to the country’s population approaching 1.5 billion. And this again shows that wealthy states are spending too much on vaccines if they can do so with pre-orders.

That is, the first release of the vaccine will certainly not be distributed evenly around the world. To avoid this, the WHO has already created an international group charged with trying to raise vaccines around the world for those who apply for membership, given the need for vaccines, despite the fact that large countries have already seized an incredible amount. COVAX currently has 189 member states, which means that the largest buyers are registered in the same way as the smaller Polynesian island nations. Besides WHO, COVAX is an international organization that tries to get all kinds of vaccines for poor states (Gavi) and there are more an international coalition to support innovation in epidemic prevention is (CEPI). The latter has already immobilized 700 million doses of vaccine, but I want to reach two billion by the end of the year, of which about 20 per cent of the population of the 189 acceding Member States will be vaccinated.

But who manufactures where or with whom?

So Pfizer, which wants to produce 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine this year, has three plants in the US, expanding some due to high order numbers. And it spans Europe with products made in its factory in Belgium. The American company also has a wide range of suppliers. The other licensed vaccine manufacturer, Moderna, is a much smaller company and does not have the capacity to handle such a large volume, so it is no coincidence that it is already negotiating outsourcing production to Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Little is known, but India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, with a sector with an annual turnover of $ 40 billion. More than 60 percent of the world’s vaccine comes from India. In various places, various companies produce vaccines in the vast country, but the largest vaccine manufacturer and also the world leader is the Serum Institute of India (SII). London-based AstraZeneca, which also independently developed a coronavirus vaccine, also manufactures more than 60,000 people around the world. However, due to the incredible amount of pre-orders, they also turned to the Indians.

The SII manufactures its vaccines and it is tentatively planned to produce 400 million doses of the vaccine by July and a total of 1 billion by the end of the year. The Russians have also contracted with Indian companies to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik V a year, and India will be the Asian distribution center for the Russian vaccine.

(Cover image: Coronavirus vaccination in Turkey. Photo: Dogukan Keskinkilic / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)



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