WHO-UN launch a strategic vision framework to save lives from global catastrophe of vaccine inequity & unfair distribution

Aiming to achieve the positioned target to vaccinate 40 percent of the population of every country by the end of 2021 and 70 percent by mid of 2022, the United Nations and its Global Health agency- WHO (World Health Organisation) released a comprehensive hands-on strategic guidebook- 'Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022' to get Global Covid-19 vaccination by next mid-summer. 

The current pandemic has divided the world in a two-track pandemic:  people in poorer countries continue to be at risk while those in richer countries with high vaccination rates enjoy much greater protection forming a massive gap over vaccine inequity and unjust distribution.

More than 6.4 billion vaccine doses have now been administered globally, and almost one-third of the world’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But those numbers mask a horrifying inequity. Low-income countries have received less than half of one percent of the world’s vaccines. In Africa, less than 5% of people are fully vaccinated.

Failing to achieve the required target in September, the WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted, "Science has played its part by delivering powerful, life-saving tools faster than for any outbreak in history. But, the concentration of those tools in the hands of a few countries and companies has led to a global catastrophe, with the rich protected while the poor remain exposed to a deadly virus. We can still achieve the targets for this year and next, but it will take a level of political commitment, action and cooperation, beyond what we have seen to date."

WHO had set a target to vaccinate 10% of every country, economy and territory by the end of September but by that date 56 countries had not been able to do so, the vast majority of these are countries in Africa and the Middle East.

The Director-General further added that the strategy outlines the road we must all take together to achieve our targets of vaccinating 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year, and 70% by the middle of next year, which will require at least 11 billion vaccine doses. 

Almost 6-and-a-half billion doses had already been administered worldwide. With global vaccine production now at nearly 1.5 billion doses per month, United Nations, WHO and other global agencies urging pharmaceutical companies for an equitable distribution of doses to achieve the considered target by mid 2022.

"Vaccine inequality is the best ally of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is allowing variants to develop and run wild, condemning the world to millions more deaths, and prolonging an economic slowdown that could cost trillions of dollars," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “Without a coordinated, equitable approach, a reduction of cases in any one country will not be sustained over time. For everyone’s sake, we must urgently bring all countries to a high level of vaccination coverage," he added.

Narrating the significance of the newly launched 'Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022', the UN chief said, "It (the strategy) is based on a thorough scientific analysis of the evolving pandemic; the effectiveness of vaccines; the cost of procuring and delivering them; and global demand and supply." 

He also added,"Through dose sharing, swaps, technology transfers and other priority actions, it is possible to reduce deaths and minimize suffering, prevent health systems from being overwhelmed, resume social and economic activities, and reduce the risk of dangerous new variants."

WHO has asserted that substantial financing has already been invested to procure most of the required vaccine doses for low- and lower-middle-income countries through COVAX, the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and bilateral contracts.  But, some additional investments are needed to secure the remaining vaccine doses for these countries as well as investment to support in-country delivery. 

The 2022-Global COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy is based on a technical analysis that established a Conceptual COVID-19 Goal Framework which specifies a sequence of socio-economic and health goals, which could be achieved with various levels of vaccination scope and other interventions. The Conceptual Goal Framework structures the technical analyses of vaccination requirements to achieve ever broader health, social and economic goals and builds upon WHO’s broader COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) first published in 2020 and subsequently updated in 2021. The SPRP’s strategic objectives inform and align with the health and socioeconomic dimensions of the Global COVID-19 Vaccine Strategic Vision Goal Framework.

The strategy is intended to complement the already in-built strategy developed by the main global immunization partners incumbent through the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Vaccines Pillar (COVAX) in the wake of WHO's declaration of novel coronavirus as a public health emergency of international concern on 30th January' 2020.

The coming G20 meet in October this year will provide an extra impetus on the strategical framework to get the desired outcome of achieving the target of 40 percent by 2021.

The Strategy runs through the following criteria to be actively undertaken to attain the desired targets:

[1] Criteria advocated for countries:

a) Establish updated national COVID-19 vaccine targets and plans defining dose requirements to guide manufacturing investment and vaccine redistribution, and financial and programmatic resource needs to guide internal planning and external support;

b) Monitor vaccine demand and uptake carefully to rapidly adapt services and ensure continuity of vaccine supplies;

c) Commit to equitable distribution of vaccines in line with the WHO three-step approach;

d) Revise national vaccination strategies, policies and prioritization as needed to harness emerging evidence to maximize the impact of existing, modified and new vaccines.

[2] Countries covering highly vaccinated population: 

a) Swap vaccine delivery schedules, with COVAX and AVAT to enhance coverage in countries in need;

b) Fulfil and accelerate vaccine dose-sharing and donation commitments to COVAX in the near term, for those with existing pledges;

c) Establish new dose-sharing commitments to facilitate progress toward the 70% coverage target in every country.

[3] Countries where production of vaccine doses is high:

a) Allow the free cross-border flow of finished vaccines and raw materials;

b) Enable diversified vaccine production, both geographically and technologically, including through non-exclusive, and transparent licensing and sharing of know-how to allow transfer of technology and scale-up of manufacturing.  

[4] Criteria for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers:

a) Prioritize and fulfil COVAX and AVAT contracts as a matter of urgency;

b) Provide full transparency on the overall monthly production of COVID-19 vaccines and clear monthly schedules for supplies to COVAX, AVAT and low and low-middle income countries, to enable proper global and national-level planning and optimal use of scarce supplies;

c) Actively engage and work with countries that have high coverage and that have contracted high volumes of vaccines to allow the prioritization of COVAX and AVAT contracts, including through delivery schedule swaps, and facilitate rapid and early dose-sharing;

d) Commit to share know-how more rapidly, facilitate technology transfer and provide transparent non-exclusive voluntary licenses, to ensure that future vaccine supply is reliable, affordable, available, and deployed to every country in volumes and timing that achieves equitable access.

[5] For players like Civil society, community organizations, and the private sector:

a) Advocate locally, nationally and internationally for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments, calling for and monitoring in particular the specific actions required of manufacturers, governments and multilateral actors;

b) Mobilize and empower communities, including through social media and community networks, to generate strong vaccine demand and address misinformation and mis-perceptions that contribute to vaccine hesitancy;

c) Provide support to the in-country delivery of vaccination programmes and services.

[6] For Global/regional-multilateral development banks and institutions:

a) Enable countries to more rapidly access the capital and external support needed for in-country vaccine delivery, prioritizing low-income settings and especially targeting support to the technical, logistics and human resources required;

b) Engage fully with COVAX/ACT-Accelerator and AVAT, with integrated operations and real-time sharing of information to truly support equitable access;

c) Support international procurement and allocation mechanisms to enable all countries to equitably, efficiently and rapidly achieve the COVID-19 vaccine targets;

d) Support vaccine distribution plans and a campaign to convey the life-saving importance of approved COVID-19 vaccinations.

To ascertain the effectiveness of the provided structural framework on vaccine, The World Health Organisation, Gavi, UNICEF and CEPI must work in close collaboration with World Bank, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, Africa CDC, AVAT, and other key partners to monitor progress, identify changes needed to resolve bottlenecks, coordinate information and prioritize actions; continue to co-lead and manage the COVAX Pillar of ACT-Accelerator; support the equitable allocation of available vaccines, particularly to low-, lower-middle-income and lagging countries; directly support countries to develop and sustain rapid, effective, high-quality COVID-19 vaccine delivery programmes that can achieve the global targets; address key research, policy, safety and regulatory issues that will optimize vaccine impact including effective supply, dosing and vaccine schedules, mixing and matching of products, protection against variants, and other issues; and monitor and report monthly on progress towards the global COVID-19 vaccination goals.

Courtesy: WHO

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