COVAX Initiative

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Recently, Ghana has become the first country in the world to receive vaccines acquired through the United Nations (UN) backed COVAX initiative.

• It has received a delivery of 6,00,000 doses of the Covishield (AstraZeneca vaccine) made by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
• The vaccines have been delivered by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and are part of the first wave of Covid-19 vaccines that COVAX is sending to low- and middle-income countries.
• Ghana is among 92 countries that have signed onto the COVAX Initiative.

About COVAX Initiative

• It is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• Aim: To accelerate the development and manufacture of Covid-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.
• COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.
  • The ACT Accelerator is a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to Covid-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
• Features
  • Doses for at least 20% of countries’ populations.
  • Diverse and actively managed portfolio of vaccines.
  • Vaccines delivered as soon as they are available.
  • End the acute phase of the pandemic.
  • Rebuild economies.
• Significance
  • It will reduce the loss of life and help to get the pandemic under control.
  • Introduction of a vaccine will prevent the loss of USD 375 billion to the global economy every month.
  • Global equitable access to a vaccine, mainly protecting health care workers and those most-at-risk is the only way to mitigate the public health and economic impacts.

Source: TH