globalhealth

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE FRIDAY, April 2, 2021 Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.6 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.5 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 691 million Low-income country total: 670 million COVAX total: 1.12 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 8.6 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends The curious case of upper-middle income countries Author: Andrea Taylor The global imbalance in Covid-19 vaccines is often framed in terms of wealthy versus poor countries. While it can be summed that way (wealthy countries do have the majority of doses, while low-income countries have almost none), this overlooks the experience of upper-middle income countries (UMICs), such as Brazil, Indonesia, and China. The challenges faced by UMICs are different than those faced by lower-middle and low-income countries. They…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 Data Updates Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines:  8.5 billion doses  High-income countries: 4.6 billion doses Upper-middle-income countries: 1.5 billion doses Lower-middle-income countries: 614 million Low-income countries: 670 million COVAX total: 1.12 billion  Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor What is going on with Canada?  Canada followed the same vaccine procurement playbook as its wealthy peers, making early advance market purchases across a broad range of Covid-19 vaccine candidates. Between August and October 2020, Canada purchased doses from Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen (J&J), Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, and Medicago (a domestic company). In January, they added Novavax. With 500% coverage in confirmed purchases (going up to 600% when optioned doses are included), Canada defines the top of our population coverage graph.   But as we have seen over the past few months, vaccine purchases, vaccine deliveries, and vaccinations do not always track…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.6 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.3 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 597 million Low-income country total: 670 million COVAX total: 1.12 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 8.2 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor Today, we celebrate: This week’s good news for global equity There were two significant developments this week that are great news for Covid-19 vaccine equity. To be clear, the picture is still bleak: rich countries hold more than half of the vaccine purchased and don’t want to share until they’ve had their fill. More than 100 countries have not administered their first vaccinations, even while coverage passed 90% in Israel, 60% in the UAE, and…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.6 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.3 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 631 million Low-income country total: 671 million COVAX total: 1.12 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 8.25 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor Rhetoric first, action later: the G7 approach to global equity The G7 countries met (virtually) on Friday, February 19, to share variants of “no one is safe until everyone is safe” and discuss the importance of global equity of Covid-19 vaccines and the need for international cooperation. (Sound familiar? That’s because we heard the same things from the G20 in November.) The countries together pledged another $7.5 billion in funding for COVAX (including the $4 billion that the US Congress set aside for…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.2 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.2 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 582 million Low-income country total: 670 million COVAX total: 1.11 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 7.8 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor COVAX released draft allocations for the first half of 2021 The COVAX partnership released last week its first estimates of dose allocations for participating countries, covering planned deliveries from February through June. These are labeled as “indicative,” meaning the estimates are non-binding and subject to a list of caveats provided in both the distribution forecast and the supply update released in January. In fact, the language surrounding both documents seems on balance to contain more hedging than forecasting. This is…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021 [caption id="attachment_1474" align="alignnone" width="329"] Source: © WHO / Gregor Donaldson[/caption] Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.2 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.2 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 524 million Low-income country total: 670 million COVAX total: 1.11 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 7.2 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor What is at Stake in EU’s Move to Control Vaccine Exports AstraZeneca recently alerted the EU that it would only be able to deliver 25% of the 80-100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine expected this quarter, due to production problems in the European plants. The EU responded by suggesting, in the firmest of tones, that AstraZeneca divert doses from the (recently Brexited) UK manufacturing plants…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2021 Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.2 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.14 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 444 million Low-income country total: 270 million COVAX total: 1.11 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 7.2 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor The US formally joined COVAX. Will it Matter? Dr. Anthony Fauci, newly named the US Chief Medical Advisor, warmly addressed the WHO executive board within the first 24 hours of the Biden administration. Dr. Fauci confirmed that under President Joe Biden, the US will rejoin the WHO and will also join COVAX, the global mechanism designed to ensure equitable allocation of vaccines across the world. The value of this move may be largely symbolic at this point. The…

WEEKLY COVID VACCINE RESEARCH UPDATE TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2021 Data Updates High-income country confirmed dose total: 4.2 billion Upper-middle-income country total: 1.12 billion Lower-middle-income country total: 411 million Low-income country total: 270 million COVAX total 1.07 billion Total worldwide confirmed purchases of Covid-19 vaccines: 7.4 billion doses Weekly Insights and Interesting Trends Author: Andrea Taylor Direct deals by poorer countries are an important and encouraging development This past week, we saw the first direct vaccine purchases made for low-income countries with the African Union’s purchase of 270 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, OxfordAstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J). A relatively modest purchase of 270 million doses, when 7 billion doses have already been bought, might be overlooked but it actually represents a significant shift in the global power…