The World Health Organization (WHO) announced this Monday (21), in a press conference, that several have joined the initiative of Covax, a global alliance that aims to accelerate the development of vaccines against Covid-19 and make an equitable distribution the same.
Seth Berkley, the CEO of the Vaccine Alliance – WHO’s partner in leading the project – confirmed the adherence of the various countries. “More than 156 economies are working to guarantee the vaccine through Covax,” he announced. However, there are already 172 countries.
Berkley also informed that in the next few days the member countries will sign the terms of the agreement and that 38 more nations will join Covax. United States, China, Russia have already joined the initiative. Brazil and Portugal only showed interest in participating.
São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique, Angola and Timor-Leste are some of the more than 80 countries that will benefit from this initiative.
“Fair access to the Covid-19 vaccine is a key to fighting the virus and starting to rebuild the post-pandemic world,” said Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden. “It can’t be a race with just a few winners. Covax is an important part of the solution, ensuring that all countries can benefit from access to equitable vaccine distribution ”, he concluded.
“Covid-19 is an unprecedented global health challenge that can only be tackled with unprecedented cooperation between governments, scientists and producers,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.
