कोवैक्स

पृष्ठभूमि

As a pillar of the ACT Accelerator (Access to COVID-19 Tools) partnership, COVAX is a global vaccine access initiative, co-led by Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization, alongside UNICEF. The objective of COVAX is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines with the aim of ensuring equitable access to vaccination for every country.

All participating countries can source COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX facility. Over 90 upper-income countries have joined COVAX, with a further 90 lower-income countries being eligible for support.

Australia and COVAX

As part of this global effort to supporting fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, the Australian Government has joined COVAX. This participation and investment means that Australia is able to source vaccine doses as they become available from a diverse portfolio of potential COVID-19 vaccines, as well as supporting manufacturers.

Australia has made several financial contributions to the COVAX, initially with an upfront payment which guaranteed the purchase of over 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the Australian population. Further contributions to the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) of the COVAX Facility whose primary focus is to ensure the lower income countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines have also been made.

संसाधन

• GAVI: COVAX explained
• Australian Government Department of Health: Australia’s vaccine agreements
• WHO: COVAX Announces additional deals to access promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates; plans global rollout starting Q1 2021