Tuesday, 28 March 2023
No Result
View All Result
eudebates.tv
  • EU Policies
  • World
  • Special Debates
  • Events
  • Vote & Polls
eudebates.tv
No Result
View All Result

WHO calls to ramp up COVAX production of COVID-19 vaccines

EUdebates Team by EUdebates Team
07/03/2021
in Health
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
A nurse holding a syringe donated by COVAX
128
SHARES
1.3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Join EU debates

EU should debate mandatory vaccination, says Von der Leyen.

WHO: 115k health and care professionals died from pandemic

Vaccinated Europeans now outnumber those infected by COVID

Made in China vaccine gets WHO global approval for emergency use

WHO chief called for urgent action to increase production of COVID-19 vaccines that will be distributed through the COVAX global initiative. Urgent action is needed to increase production of COVID-19 vaccines that will be distributed through the global initiative making these medicines accessible by all countries, the UN’s top health official said on Friday. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), was speaking at the end of a historic week which saw COVAX deliver more than 20 million vaccine doses to 20 countries. 

A further 31 countries will receive 14.4 million doses next week.

#COVAX has delivered over 20M #COVID19 vaccine doses to 20 countries. In the next week, it will deliver 14.4M doses to a further 31 countries. This is encouraging progress, but the volume of doses being distributed through COVAX is still relatively small. pic.twitter.com/GsG56LMXD5

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 5, 2021

COVAX barriers and bottlenecks in production of COVID-19 vaccines

“This is encouraging progress, but the volume of doses being distributed through COVAX is still relatively small”, said Tedros, speaking during his biweekly briefing from Geneva. 

“One of our main priorities now is to increase the ambition of COVAX to help all countries end the pandemic.  This means urgent action to ramp up production.” Tedros said WHO and its COVAX partners will meet with government and industry representatives next week to identify “bottlenecks” and relevant solutions. 

“We currently face several barriers to increasing the speed and volume of production, from export bans to shortages of raw materials including glass, plastic and stoppers”, he told journalists. 

Côte d’Ivoire receive vaccine doses via COVAX Facility

Waive intellectual property rights 

WHO is working on four approaches to the issue, including calling for waiving patent rights for vaccines. “Many countries with vaccine manufacturing capacity can start producing their own COVID-19 vaccines by waiving intellectual property rights, as provided for in the TRIPS agreement”, said Tedros, referring to the 1994 accord adopted by all 194 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

“Those provisions are there for use in emergencies. If now is not a time to use them, then when? This is unprecedented time, and WHO believes that this is a time to trigger that provision and waive patent rights.” 

Partnerships, technology transfers and training 

In the short-term, the UN agency is connecting companies that produce COVID-19 vaccines with others that have excess capacity to fill and finish them, citing the partnership between Johnson & Johnson and Merck, announced this week, as an example. 

“We need more partnerships like this, and we need them in all regions”, Tedros said. WHO is also advocating bilateral technology transfers, so that companies that own vaccine patents can license them to another company. 

“A good example of this approach is AstraZeneca, which has transferred the technology for its vaccine to SKBio in the Republic of Korea and the Serum Institute of India, which is producing AstraZeneca vaccines for COVAX”, Tedros said, though he cited lack of transparency as a main disadvantage of this approach.

Coordinated production of COVID-19 vaccines

Coordinated technology transfer is a third option, whereby universities and manufacturers would license their production of COVID-19 vaccines to other companies through a global mechanism coordinated by WHO. This would also facilitate the training of staff at the receiving companies, and coordinate investments in infrastructure. 

Tedros said WHO had in fact used this approach during the H5N1 avian influenza pandemic in the mid-2000s.

COVID 19 arrival of vaccines in Côte d’Ivoire the second African country to receive vaccine doses

Wuhan mission report forthcoming 

Independent experts investigating the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19 will issue their final report later this month, the WHO briefing heard. 

The findings from the mission to Wuhan – the Chinese city where the outbreak first began more than a year ago – together with a summary report, will be issued during the week of 14 March, said Dr. Peter Ben Embarek, the team leader. “We decided to go for publishing and issuing both reports at the same time…because they follow each other and it makes sense to issue them together at the same time”, he said, responding to a journalist’s question. The experts travelled in January to Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged at the end of 2019.

eudebates the production of COVID-19 vaccines

Share this debate with your friends!
Follow #eudebates on Google News and on Facebook
Tags: AfricaCoronavirusCOVIDCOVID19Global CollaborationGlobal GrowthGlobal ProsperityGlobal ResponseHuman HealthPublic HealthUnited NationsVaccinationVaccinationsVaccinesWHOWorld Health Organisation
Share51Tweet32

Related EU debates

EU should debate mandatory vaccination, says Von der Leyen.
Health

EU should debate mandatory vaccination, says Von der Leyen.

01/12/2021
Doctors mask virus health
Health

WHO: 115k health and care professionals died from pandemic

25/05/2021
A medical worker getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in Bulgaria
Health

Vaccinated Europeans now outnumber those infected by COVID

14/05/2021
Illustration picture of a vaccines - vaccine
Health

Made in China vaccine gets WHO global approval for emergency use

13/05/2021
small-baby mother newborn
Health

Health: Keep mothers and newborns together

16/04/2021
Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety
Health

World Health Day: Stella Kyriakides EU debates Health Union

06/04/2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SOTEU 2022 - State of the Union speech

Watch State of the Union live: Ursula von der Leyen gives 2022 address #SOTEU

14/09/2022
Volunteers preparing food for Ukrainian refugees arriving at Berlin Central Station

EU steps up solidarity with refugees fleeing Ukraine

08/03/2022
pump jack oil diesel

REPowerEU to get rid of the dependencies of Russian fossil fuel

08/03/2022
Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission

EU sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine

26/02/2022
Finnish PM Sanna Marin

Finland: NATO membership ‘will change’ after Russian invasion

24/02/2022
NATO - EU joint Press Conference

EU responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with massive sanctions

24/02/2022
  • EU COVID19 colour code of Europe / EU coloured map

    Travelling in Europe with COVID19 country colour travel code zones

    226 shares
    Share 90 Tweet 57
  • EU nasty and vindictive? Nigel Farage criticizes EU vaccines strategy

    200 shares
    Share 80 Tweet 50
  • EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA)

    191 shares
    Share 76 Tweet 48
  • Why don’t Mediterranean boat migrants take the plane? Why don’t refugees fly?

    186 shares
    Share 74 Tweet 47
  • Burkini Debate: To Ban or Not to Ban the Burkini, Burka and Niqab in EUROPE?

    184 shares
    Share 74 Tweet 46

Join eudebates newsletter!

Enter your email to receive our newsletter.

Don't worry, we don't spam
eudebates_logo

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • Watch State of the Union live: Ursula von der Leyen gives 2022 address #SOTEU
  • EU steps up solidarity with refugees fleeing Ukraine
  • REPowerEU to get rid of the dependencies of Russian fossil fuel
  • EU sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine
  • Finland: NATO membership ‘will change’ after Russian invasion

Newsletter

Join eudebates newsletter!

Enter your email to receive our newsletter.

Don't worry, we don't spam
SOTEU 2022 - State of the Union speech

Watch State of the Union live: Ursula von der Leyen gives 2022 address #SOTEU

14/09/2022
Volunteers preparing food for Ukrainian refugees arriving at Berlin Central Station

EU steps up solidarity with refugees fleeing Ukraine

08/03/2022
pump jack oil diesel

REPowerEU to get rid of the dependencies of Russian fossil fuel

08/03/2022
  • Home
  • EU Policies
  • Special Debates
  • Events
  • Vote & Polls
  • Video

© 2022 eudebates - EU debates, dialogue, communication for a better Europe - Privacy Policy.

No Result
View All Result
  • EU Policies
  • World
  • Special Debates
  • Events
  • Vote & Polls

© 2022 eudebates - EU debates, dialogue, communication for a better Europe - Privacy Policy.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.