Trinidad and Tobago is one of the countries that has been named as running out of vaccines in a recent BBC article on the Covax initiative.
The article, titled “Covid: Vaccines running out in poorer nations, WHO says,” said the Covax initiative initially set a target of providing two billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021.
It reported, “Most of those are being donated to poorer countries, where Covax hopes to distribute enough vaccines to protect at least 20 per cent of the populations. However, the distribution of these vaccines has been hampered by manufacturing delays and supply disruptions, leading to shortages in countries wholly reliant on Covax.
“Uganda, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Trinidad and Tobago are just some of the countries that have reported running out of vaccines in recent days.”
The BBC said at a WHO briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, WHO senior adviser Dr Bruce Aylward acknowledged the extent of those shortages in stark terms.
He said of the 80 low-income countries involved in Covax, "At least half of them do not have sufficient vaccines to be able to sustain their programmes right now. If we look at what we're hearing from countries on a day-to-day basis, well over half of countries have run out of stock and are calling for additional vaccine. But in reality it's probably much higher."
He said some countries had tried to make alternative arrangements to end shortages, with harsh consequences, such as paying above-market value for vaccines.
The BBC reported that on Monday the administration of US President Joe Biden announced how it planned to donate 55 million vaccine doses to countries in need. Of those, 41 million would be distributed through Covax, with the remaining 14 million shared with countries deemed priorities.
These vaccines are not included in the 500 million doses Biden said the US would donate via Covax. He made that pledge earlier this month at a summit of major economic powers, known as the G7 (Group of Seven). Together, those G7 members committed to donate a billion vaccines to poorer countries over this year.
But, said the BBC, campaigners criticised the pledge, saying it lacked ambition, was far too slow and showed Western leaders were not serious about tackling the worst public health crisis in a century.
Some health experts believe it could be months – if not years, said the BBC, before enough people are vaccinated globally to declare an end to the pandemic.
It reported that when asked about global need for vaccines on Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: "What we have found to be the biggest challenge is not actually the supply, we have plenty of doses to share with the world, but this is a herculean logistical challenge."
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