Six hundred thousand听doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine from the UN-partnered COVAX initiative have arrived in Ghana.听Confirming the news on Wednesday, the World Health Organization ()听听that further supplies of the AstraZeneca/Oxford jab will reach C么te d鈥橧voire later this week.
These are the first听coronavirus听shots from the听听scheme to be distributed outside India, where the vaccine is being produced under licence.
Further supplies will be shipped to the other members as the global rollout gathers pace, when readiness criteria have been met and the doses produced.
Only the beginning
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, welcomed the development, along with COVAX partners Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
But he insisted that there was still 鈥渁 lot of work to do鈥� to secure support for WHO鈥檚 goal of giving the vaccine to all health workers and older people in the first 100 days of the year.
"We will not end the pandemic anywhere unless we end it everywhere," the WHO chief said in a joint statement.听
"Today is a major first step towards realizing our shared vision of vaccine equity, but it's just the beginning. We still have a lot of work to do with governments and manufacturers to ensure that vaccination of health workers and older people is underway in all countries within the first 100 days of this year."
Vaccine development 鈥榗rucial鈥�
Echoing the urgent need for universal vaccine distribution, Dr Richard Hatchett, Chief Executive Officer at CEPI, noted that there were now 鈥渕ultiple safe and effective vaccines against听COVID-19听developed in record time鈥�.
But the 鈥渋ncreased spread鈥� of COVID-19 variants had ushered in a 鈥渘ew and less predictable phase of the pandemic鈥�, Dr Hatchett insisted. 鈥淚t is crucial that the vaccines we have developed are shared globally, as a matter of the greatest urgency, to reduce the prevalence of disease, slow down viral mutation, and bring the pandemic to an end.鈥�
In an appeal for greater support for the initiative, which Dr Seth Berkley, head of fellow COVAX partner GAVI insisted that the delivery of vaccines to Ghana was a proud moment, but it had to be repeated 鈥渢o all participating economies鈥� in coming weeks, 鈥渢o ensure that those most at risk are protected, wherever they live鈥�.
Governments and businesses needed to 鈥渞ecommit鈥� to COVAX, the Gavi chief insisted 鈥渁nd help us defeat this virus as quickly as possible鈥�.
In order for new coronavirus doses to be delivered to COVAX participants, the criteria which need to be fulfilled include confirmation of national regulatory authorisations for the vaccine in question, national vaccination plans and export and import licences.
Decline in deaths
The development comes as WHO reported a drop in COVID-19 deaths for the third consecutive week.
Some 66,000 deaths were reported last week, according to the UN agency鈥檚 latest update on the disease, which was issued on Wednesday.
WHO said deaths have fallen in all regions except the Western Pacific, which recorded a six per cent increase.
New infections also decreased by 11 per cent over the same period in four out of six regions. 听However, South-East Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean reported small increases of two per cent and seven per cent respectively.
Globally, there have been nearly 111 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and more than 2.4 million deaths.
The United States, Brazil, France, Russia and India continue to report the highest number of cases.
