Following its approval by the WHO, the first doses of the Moderna vaccine should be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021. – SYSPEO / SIPA
The global Covax device has signed an agreement with the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) to have 500 million doses of Moderna’s anti-Covid vaccine. The first doses of this messenger RNA vaccine are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021, “with a total of 34 million doses available in 2021 and up to 466 million doses in 2022,” Gavi said in a statement released on Monday. .
The Moderna vaccine is usually administered in two doses, although new recommendations call for a single dose if the patient has had Covid fairly recently. The agreement also contains “options for possibly obtaining vaccine doses that are suitable for future variants,” said the Geneva-based organization.
Emergency vaccine approval
“Expanding and diversifying the portfolio has always been a key objective of Covax, and to remain flexible in the face of this ever-evolving pandemic – including the growing threat posed by new variants,” said Gavi’s Executive Director , Dr. Seth Berkley. This agreement with Moderna “is a further step in this direction”, he assured.
It follows the emergency approval of the vaccine on Friday by the World Health Organization (WHO), a prerequisite for the serum to be integrated into the Covax system, set up by Gavi, WHO and Cepi (Coalition for Innovations in Epidemic Preparedness).
Moderna accessible to all?
The agreement is “an important step as we strive to ensure that people around the world have access to our vaccine against Covid-19,” said Moderna boss Stéphane Bancel, acknowledging that “of many countries have limited resources to access vaccines ”.
In addition to Moderna, the WHO has also approved the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech, the two AstraZeneca sera made in India and South Korea and that from Johnson & Johnson, called Janssen.
49 million vaccines shipped to 121 countries
To date, Covax, whose main supplier remains AstraZeneca, has shipped more than 49 million vaccines to 121 participating countries and territories. The system came up against the will of the richest states, which faced with popular pressure, obtained as many doses as possible to the detriment of the others. The device is also undermined by the decision taken by India to block exports of doses produced by AZ via the Serum Institute of India (SII), the Asian giant itself being overwhelmed by the Covid epidemic.
Faced with this situation, the WHO called on countries with enough vaccines to share them with poor countries via Covax. Some countries have already made announcements. And Sweden has in turn pledged to “donate one million doses of the AZ / Oxford vaccine to help Covax urgently address short-term supply delays,” Gavi said in the statement. .