The World Health Organization (WHO) and the vaccine alliance cooperating with GAVI, which have set up a mechanism to distribute vaccines against the Coronavirus (known also COVID-19) in poor countries, have announced that they expect to send the first doses to these countries in the first quarter of 2021.
Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a press conference that this mechanism called "Kovacs" (or what it means is the global reach of the vaccine against COVID-19) "has guaranteed access to nearly two billion" doses.
WHO has set a goal to obtain by the year 2021 two billion doses still in production for the benefit of 190 countries participating in the Kovacs mechanism.
Poor countries include dozens of nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
The organization and the GAVI Alliance announced in a statement that it has become possible to “prepare for the first vaccine deliveries during the first quarter of 2021, as the first portion of the doses - which is sufficient to protect workers in the health sector and social services - will be delivered during the first quarter of 2021 to all participating economies. (In the Kovacs mechanism) that requested doses at this time.")
Other vaccines will be delivered to all participants during the second quarter of 2021, and the goal is to secure doses for up to 20% of citizens in the participating countries before the end of the year, according to the statement.
He added, "Today's announcements offer the clearest path so far to end the acute phase of the epidemic by protecting the most vulnerable people in the whole world."
In 2022 additional doses will be provided, allowing for higher levels of protection.
The two partner organizations indicated that the delivery of vaccines depends on several factors, including the approval of regulatory agencies and the state of readiness in countries.
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