COVAX

COVAX

Subject: Science and technology

Context: WHO gave green light to two versions of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use to be rolled out globally through COVAX.

Concept:

• The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India (SII).
• For Emergency Use Listing WHO assessed the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccines which is currently pre-requisite for use of COVAX facility.
• It will lead to those countries which have no access to vaccine, rolling it out through an equitable vaccine distribution.
• Earlier WHO had also listed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use.

About COVAX

• COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access or COVAX is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and others.
• It is one of the three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, an initiative begun in April 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission, and the government of France as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• COVAX aims to coordinate international resources to enable the equitable access of COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and COVID-19 vaccines. It aims for people in all corners of the world to get access to Covid-19 vaccines once they are available, regardless of their wealth.
• The COVAX facility continually monitors the Covid-19 vaccine landscape to identify the most suitable vaccine candidates, based on scientific merit and scalability, and works with manufacturers to incentivize them (Ex- Serum Institute of India has received funds from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT Accelerator)

It is a framework for collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to Covid-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. It is built on three main pillars: Vaccines (COVAX), Therapeutics, Diagnostics.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

• It was created in 2000. It is an international bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.
• Its core partners include the WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

• CEPI is a global partnership launched in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
• CEPI was founded in Davos (Switzerland) by the governments of Norway and India, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Welcome Trust, and the World Economic Forum.