Epic COVAX COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Continues

By Sarah Ferguson

THE RACE TO END THE PANDEMIC is on, and UNICEF is playing a vital role in the equitable global distribution of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines.

Between March 4 and March 9, planes carrying COVID-19 vaccine doses touched down in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Uganda, adding to the growing list of countries that have received vaccine deliveries through the COVAX Facility since the first shipment arrived in Ghana on Feb. 24. In the past two weeks, more than 15 million vaccine doses have reached around 35 countries. Initial doses will be used to protect health care and frontline workers and other high-risk individuals.

The COVAX Facility — a multilateral initiative co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the World

Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for

Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), with UNICEF as a key implementing partner, leading on procurement and supply — aims to provide 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 1.2 billion doses to low- and middle-income countries, by the end of 2021. It will be the largest, fastest and most complex vaccination campaign in history.

“We have equipped 251 community health centers in the districts with solar-powered refrigerators, and an additional 288 fridges are expected to arrive soon in the country," Fouet said, crediting the assistance of technical and financial partners. “Vaccines are lifesaving. No one is safe until everyone is safe." "We are talking about vaccines as a vial with medicine, but really it's about people," said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, U.N. Resident Coordinator in Nepal. "It's about the number of people who will be reached with services, the number of people who will have increased immunity against COVID-19."

To track global COVID-19 vaccine deliveries through the COVAX Facility, visit the interactive UNICEF COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard

On March 5, UNICEF Representative in Malawi Rudolf Schwenk, left, and UNICEF Malawi Chief of Health Tedla Damte approach the plane holding Malawi's first batch of COVID-19 vaccines procured via the COVAX Facility. Malawi received 36,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine shipped from the Serum Institute of India in Mumbai. Malawi has also received 360,000 syringes and 3,625 safety boxes for the safe disposal of used syringes through COVAX. An additional 2.1 million syringes and 21,600 safety boxes have been dispatched by sea to arrive in mid-March. © UNICEF/ UN0426464/Kabuye

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