Under the optional purchase agreement, participants may choose not to receive a vaccine without compromising their ability to receive their full share of doses from other candidates, subject to the availability of supply. This type of agreement may be more attractive to participants who have already concluded bilateral agreements with manufacturers, whereby they may have already ensured sufficient doses of that particular vaccine. The fact that so many self-funded economies have signed up to join the COVAX facility is a huge step forward and means we can now start signing formal agreements with vaccine manufacturers and developers to secure doses. This will not only allow COVAX to increase our chances of successfully developing COVID-19 vaccines, but also to ensure that we have the production capacity to produce the quantities of doses we need once a vaccine is ready. At the time of writing, 78 high-income countries and economies have now confirmed their interest in participating in the COVAX Facility, and more will follow. This shows that the COVAX facility is open for business and is attracting the interest we were hoping for around the world. Countries now have until 18 September to commit to legally binding agreements on participation and to pay their advances to the Facility by 9 October. The fact that the world is coming together to try to put in place a common vision and a common institution itself is historic. And I believe this is the largest multilateral effort since the Paris Climate Agreement.
At a time when there is not much or less interest in multilateralism, I think that is a positive thing. COVAX is mainly funded by Western countries. [18] As of 19 February 2021, 30 countries had signed commitment agreements for the COVAX mechanism and the European Union (with the exception of some Member States). Although more than $6 billion has been pledged, not all funds have yet been provided. In April, the initiative wrote that it had not yet reached its target of $3.2 billion for 2021. [35] Participation in COVAX can be considered an insurance scheme, even for the richest countries such as the United States, which have entered into bilateral agreements with certain drug developers to obtain priority access to certain vaccines. If these COVID-19 vaccine candidates fail – a recent review of drugs and vaccines in clinical trials has shown that even those in the later stages of research have only a 20% chance of success – countries engaged in COVAX will be able to access other vaccines that should help them protect their most vulnerable people. The initiative is called Covax and aims to support the development and equitable distribution of 2 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. This is the largest multilateral effort since the Paris Climate Agreement, according to Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, one of the partners behind Covax, along with the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
During this period, we added the optional side of the agreements [where countries can make an optional commitment by paying a higher amount for vaccines later, but avoiding any guarantee of purchase]. And that was because many countries wanted the opportunity to reject certain vaccines. So that`s the adjustment we`ve made. And the obvious challenge for all of us is to act as quickly as possible to do business, because over time more and more bilateral agreements are concluded and promised in other doses. As the name suggests, self-financing countries that opt for a committed purchase must provide guarantees promised for obtaining an agreed dose quantity through the Facility. In exchange for this firm commitment, these participants will have to make a lower upfront payment of $1.60 per dose, or 15% of the total cost per dose. Under this type of agreement, participants actually commit to purchasing a number of vaccines that, once available, will be distributed equitably and equitably among participants. Countries have the option to refuse to buy a vaccine if the price of the vaccine is twice (or more) higher than expected. Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials with COVAX-19 are being conducted in Iran under a cooperation agreement. [7] Phase 2 clinical trials began in May 2021 and Phase 3 trials began in August 2021.
In the phase 2 trials, 400 Iranian volunteers received an injection of a placebo or the first dose of the vaccine. If the trials are successful, the vaccine will be manufactured as COVAX-19 in Australia and SpikoGen by Cinnagen in Iran. [6] [8] China joined COVAX on October 9, 2020. [38] Sinopharm BIBP and CoronaVac (by Sinovac Biotech) are vaccines developed in China and approved by WHO for distribution via COVAX. [39] In July 2021, GAVI signed advance purchase agreements for 170 million doses of Sinopharm BIBP vaccine, 350 million doses of CoronaVac and 414 million doses of SCB-2019, another phase III vaccine. [40] [41] August. 8, 2021, China pledges $100 million for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for low-income countries, bringing Covax`s total to nearly $10 billion [42] In addition, Chinese leader Xi Jinping promises 2 billion vaccines worldwide by the end of the year. According to AP News, China has already shipped 770 million doses overseas since September 2020 (as of August 6, 2021)[43] Already, a number of high-income countries and regions – Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union – have signed bilateral agreements with manufacturers to guarantee vaccine doses to their populations even before they are licensed. .