UNICEF and the World Economic Forum signs charter

Subject : Science & tech

Context : UNICEF and the World Economic Forum sign charter with 18 shipping, airlines and logistics companies to deliver COVID-19 vaccines.

Concept :

18 shipping, airlines and logistics industry CEOs, the Executive Director of UNICEF, and the President of the World Economic Forum, have signed a charter supporting UNICEF and COVAX countries in four main ways:
Engage with governments, customs authorities, UNICEF and other UN Agencies, and NGOs;
Participate in operational asset and competency sharing
Assign expertise to support governments, where requested by UNICEF
Support UNICEF’s Global Vaccine Logistics Distribution, for COVID-19, with prioritization and solutions for international and in country distribution of vaccines and related supplies on behalf of the COVAX facility.

COVAX FACILITY:

COVAX is one of three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which was launched in April by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission and France in response to this pandemic.
It is the only truly global solution to this pandemic because it is the only effort to ensure that people in all corners of the world will get access to COVID-19 vaccines once they are available, regardless of their wealth.
Coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO, COVAX will achieve this by acting as a platform that will support the research, development and manufacturing of a wide range of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and negotiate their pricing.
All participating countries, regardless of income levels, will have equal access to these vaccines once they are developed.
The initial aim is to have 2 billion doses available by the end of 2021, which should be enough to protect high risk and vulnerable people, as well as frontline healthcare workers.