EU Plans to Share Coronavirus Vaccines with Developing Nations

The situation with Coronavirus has not changed. Many countries across the globe continue to report new cases of COVID-19. Some have even confirmed the COVID-19 variant, which is highly transmissible. Health organizations are worried that the situation might be irreversible if the new variant hits underdeveloped countries. Currently, the world is relying on recently developed vaccines. Hopefully, they will work out.

Support Poor Nations

With the virus on the rise, European Nations decided to formulate a mechanism that would allow poorer nations to access the surplus vaccines. According to the EU chief, this move could save such countries by controlling the COVID-19 situation. European Union has already secured about 2.3 billion coronavirus vaccines and candidates from six companies. Although what they still need to kick off the process is regulatory approval.

“We are working with a member state to propose a European mechanism to share vaccines beyond our borders,” Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told EU lawmakers on Tuesday.

She stressed that the mechanism aimed to supply vaccines to underdeveloped countries. The EU is working together with the World Health Organization to ensure a fair distribution of vaccine shots worldwide.

What is COVAX?

COVAX is a facility formulated last year amid the outbreak of COVID-19 to provide access to coronavirus tools. Therefore, it has been operational for quite some time. Though recently, it has been having trouble accessing coronavirus vaccines. In December last year, COVAX announced deals for over 2 billion doses. However, it faces challenges as the most considerable portion of these shots has been pledged by vaccine makers under non-binding accords. This is so mainly because COVAX is having money problems. As such, they cannot book the vaccines in advance. A senior EU vaccine negotiator stated that firms would not give them doses if they do not pay in advance.

International Documents showed that COVAX leaders suspected the mechanism would push through, considering the high risks of failure COVAX leaders saw in December. They saw insufficient funds and complex contractual arrangements to sabotage their plans.

Risks of Fair Distribution

World Health Organization warned that there might be an uneven distribution of the vaccines. This is because rich nations were hoarding most of the available shots to control the pandemic in their countries.

According to Kyriakides, the EU vaccine sharing scheme should prioritize health workers and most of the vulnerable populations in North Africa, Western Balkans, the Middle East, and poorer sub-Saharan African countries.

“This mechanism would act as a single point for requests and a pipeline through which initial doses can be provided, possibly through COVAX, ” an EU Commission document published on Tuesday said.

Meanwhile, there is no clarity as to whether European Union will donate or sell its excess doses when the nations outside the 27 nation block could access the vaccines. Sweden has come up with a mechanism to sell its surplus vaccines. The EU governments are responsible for making the decisions on sharing the vaccines. So it’s up to them.