The World Health Organization said on Monday it hopes to deliver by the end of next year at least 2 billion doses of safe, effective vaccines² through its vaccine¹ initiative.

 

世界卫生组织周一表示，希望通过新冠疫苗计划在明年年底前提供至少20亿剂安全、有效的疫苗。

 

As of Monday, 172 countries were engaging with the initiative, which is known as the COVAX Global Vaccines Facility.

 

At present, nine potential vaccines are part of the dynamic portfolio³, which is constantly being reviewed and optimized⁴ to ensure access to the best possible range of products.

 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said discussions are ongoing⁵ with four additional producers, and a further nine vaccines are currently under evaluation⁶ for the longer term.

 

"The facility is the critical mechanism⁷ for joint⁸ procurement⁹ and pooling risk across multiple vaccines so that whichever vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, all countries within the facility will be able to access them," he said during a virtual news briefing from Geneva.

 

He emphasized that the most important thing is that the mechanism enables a globally coordinated¹⁰ rollout.

 

The WHO is working with vaccine manufacturers to provide all countries that join the effort with timely and equitable¹¹ access to all approved vaccines.

 

"This doesn't just pool risk, it also means that prices will be kept as low as possible," Tedros said.

 

He warned that it would lead to a prolonged pandemic if only a small number of countries got most of the supply.

 

"Vaccine nationalism only helps the virus," he said.

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