COVAX boosted by 500 million Moderna doses
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The COVAX global programme, which has relied heavily on AstraZeneca vaccines, said on Monday it has struck a deal to buy 500 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 jabs.
The doses will broaden out the portfolio of vaccines under COVAX, which seeks to ensure poor countries have equitable access to vaccines to combat the pandemic.
Moderna are expected to start supplying COVAX in the final quarter of 2021, with 34 million doses available before the end of the year, the COVAX scheme’s co-leader Gavi announced in a statement.
A further 466 million doses of the two-shot vaccine will follow in 2022.
COVAX is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
“We are very pleased to sign this new agreement with Moderna, giving COVAX facility participants access to yet another highly efficacious vaccine,” said Gavi chief executive Seth Berkley.
“Expanding and having a diverse portfolio has always been a core goal for COVAX, and to remain adaptable in the face of this continually evolving pandemic – including the rising threat posed by new variants.”
The deal also contains options for potential access to future versions adapted to variants of the virus.
Under COVAX, the cost of vaccines for the 92 poorest participating economies is covered by donors. The scheme aims to distribute enough doses to jab up to 27 percent of the population in those territories by the end of 2021.
Dozens of wealthier participating countries also buy vaccine supply through the facility with collective purchasing.