Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that as the Omicron cases continue to fall it is time to open up the country fully for business and travel.
COVID tests for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in England are being scrapped, Prime Minister – Boris Johnson has confirmed. It comes after the chief executives of the UK’s largest airlines urged the government to end coronavirus-related travel restrictions. The bosses pointed to evidence that the Omicron variant is in retreat, and argued that current measures have a “limited effect” in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to the Academic Centre, Milton Keynes Hospital, the prime minister said: “We have, thanks to the tough decisions, the big calls that we made… the most open economy and society in Europe. “And although we have to be cautious, we are now moving through the Omicron wave, and you can see the figures are starting to get better.
“So what we’re doing on travel, to show that this country is open for business, open for travellers, you will see changes so that people arriving no longer have to take tests if they have been vaccinated, if they have been double vaccinated.”
Johan Lundgren, easyJet’s chief executive, said:“We welcome this news knowing that millions of our customers will also be delighted to see the return of restriction-free travel in the UK. We now look ahead to what we believe will be a strong summer.
“We believe testing for travel should now firmly become a thing of the past. It is clear travel restrictions did not materially slow the spread of Omicron in the UK and so it is important that there are no more knee-jerk reactions to future variants.
The airline industry saw huge cancellations as Omicron hit the UK in December
“We commend the government for removing all testing. easyJet plans to return to near 2019 levels of flying this summer and so we can’t wait to welcome our customers back onboard.”
From Thursday, COVID passports and the mandatory wearing of face masks are being scrapped in England – and people are no longer being told to work from home.
Speaking to Sky News, the World Health Organisation’s special envoy for COVID, Dr David Nabarro, described the virus as “very nasty and rather cunning” – and said it should not be treated like the flu.
Warning that coronavirus remains “very, very dangerous”, he added: “It can also mutate and form variants and we’ve seen several but we know there are more not far away.”
Airlines have been campaigning for tests for travellers to be scrapped
The fund is targeting high developmental impact, including job creation and income generation through SMEs and micro-entrepreneurship
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, January 14, 2022 | — Verdant Capital (www.Verdant-Cap.com) Hybrid Fund initially has USD 36 million of committed capital; Support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) through investment in financial institutions; Better access to financing, creation of employment and income generation for MSME in Africa
Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund (VCHF) has reached its first closing with committed capital of USD 36 million. The fund is targeting high developmental impact, including job creation and income generation through SMEs and micro-entrepreneurship. The fund will be investing hybrid capital and subordinated debt instruments into inclusive financial institutions on a pan-African basis. The fund will target specialist banks, microfinance institutions, leasing, and factoring companies, fintech and other non-bank financial institutions. A strong focus will be to ensure that the investments comply with high environmental and social standards. The fund is targeting two further closings with a targeted final close amount of 100 Mio. USD.
KfW Development Bank, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is contributing about USD 34 million to the VCHF. Beside KfW, the fund is benefitting from capital commitments of private investors including the fund manager of VCHF, Verdant Capital.
Verdant Capital, an investment manager operating on a pan-African basis, has a successful track-record of advising and investing in the financial service market for MSME in Africa. The fund is domiciled in Germany, yet most of the investment team is based in Verdant Capital’s offices across Africa.
The rationale for the fund includes addressing the gap in the market in terms of the availability of equity, equity-like or hybrid capital in the inclusive financial institution sector in Africa. Such capital is much needed, including because the COVID-19 pandemic has eroded the capital bases of African lenders. The investments by VCHF can be leveraged by traditional debt funding, thereby crowding-in other investors and ultimately expanding lending to MSME. The fund also intends to broaden the use of such hybrid financial instruments in Africa and to contribute to the overall development of capital markets in Africa.
The German Federal Government is providing an additional budget in the amount of USD 4.5 million for accompanying support measures. The VCHF Technical Assistance Facility will support African financial institutions in growing their MSME loan books, strengthening organisational capacities and improving responsible finance standards, and forms an important part of the fund’s post investment value add strategy.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Verdant Capital.
15/12/2021, Bangkok – The state of food security and nutrition in Asia and the Pacific has worsened, as more than 375 million people in the region faced hunger in 2020, an increase of 54 million over the previous year, according to a joint report just published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
While hunger has increased, so too has inadequate access to nutritious foods.
The high cost of a healthy diet, and persistently high levels of poverty and income inequality, continue to hold healthy diets out of reach for 1.8 billion people in the Asia and Pacific region.
A negative trend worsened by the arrival of COVID-19
In recent years, progress has stalled in reducing the number of undernourished, and the prevalence of certain nutritional indicators, such as stunting in children under five years of age, was already much too high, as reported last year.
Since then, the situation has worsened. While it is not yet possible to fully quantify the damage done to food security and nutrition by COVID-19, the pandemic has had a serious impact on the region. Even countries that initially reported a limited number of COVID-19 cases experienced the negative effects of the containment measures, combined with people’s health concerns, that led to a major contraction of economic activity in this region and worldwide. Disruption in food supply chains only added to the problems.
A way forward
The situation could have been worse without the response of governments and the impressive social protection measures they put in place during the crisis. In building back better food environments, future agri-food systems will have to provide better production, better nutrition, a better environment and better lives.
To do that, FAO and UNICEF state the focus must revolve around meeting the needs of small-scale, family farmers and indigenous people in the region. Food systems must also prioritize the dietary needs of vulnerable groups, including young children and women.
Commitments have been made to ensure recovery and there are opportunities to begin the hard work of advancing food security and nutrition through transforming agri-food systems such as the United Nations Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Implementing these commitments will be needed to meet the second Sustainable Development Goal, SDG2, to eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition.
8 December 2021 | Access to education during the first lockdown was high, but not without problems, survey shows
A new survey shows that 85% of enrolled school-aged children had some form of education services during school closures between March and July 2020. While some received educational services through multiple means, 54% of students received information, instructions, notes, or assignments sent to smartphone, tab, or computer, 50% had live lessons delivered over Zoom and other applications (potentially alongside other methods). Sixty percent received education services through ‘offline’ methods like physical delivery of material (also potentially alongside other methods).
The 2021 islandwide survey conducted by digital policy think tank, LIRNEasia, showed that though 85% received some form of education services, only 48% relied exclusively on services from their school, while 4% relied exclusively on tuition providers and 33% relied on both. (Figure 1).
Figure 1: How children received education during the lockdown
The survey does not directly reveal information about the continuity or the quality of the education services provided, but the rate of dissatisfaction with the services provides some indication. Despite high access to remote education, over 58% of households were dissatisfied with their remote education experience.
Furthermore, inequalities in who had access were evident (e.g., children in better-off households being more likely to receive education) as well as what or how content was received (e.g., 50% had live online lessons while 50% did not). There were also inequalities in terms of receiving feedback, with just 48% receiving feedback and the balance 52% not.
According to co-convenor of the Education Forum Sri Lanka, Dr. Sujata Gamage, “These survey data are consistent with ground realities. Soon after schools closed, teachers and local education authorities mobilized whatever resources were at their disposal, whether using WhatsApp messages or leaving notes and assignments at the school gate for collection, to reach out to their students. Parents seem to have risen up to the challenge as well by increasing their Internet access. Of the households with enrolled school-age children, 76% had access to the Internet in 2020, in contrast to the 34% of such households in 2018, according to LIRNEasia’s AfterAccess survey. Not surprisingly, 90% of the enrolled children living in internet-connected households received remote education services.”
The survey also highlighted some of the difficulties that households faced in their children accessing education during this time, ranging from poor signal quality, to not having enough devices to go around in the house; and as stated, many remained dissatisfied with the entire experience.
The survey findings were released at a virtual launch event conducted on 8 December 2021, which included a panel discussion with leading government, private sector and civil society representatives. Panelists included Oshada Senanayake (Director General, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka & Chairman, ICT Agency of Sri Lanka), L. Ilaangovan, Secretary of Education, Cultural Affairs, Sports and Youth Affairs of the Northern Provincial), Jiffry Zulfer (Founder and CEO, PickMe), Karin Fernando (Team Leader for Sustainable Development, CEPA) & Gayani Hurulle (Senior Research Manager, LIRNEasia). The discussion was moderated by Rohan Samarajiva (Chair, LIRNEasia).
About the research: The research was funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) through a grant given to three regional think tanks, LIRNEasia, Research ICT Africa and Instituto de Estudios Peruanos. The nationally representative sample for the survey conducted in Sri Lanka consisted of 2,500 households and individuals across the country covering 125 Grama Niladhari Divisions. The sampling methodology has been designed to ensure representation of the target group (population aged 15+) at a national level with a +/-2.8% margin of error at a confidence level of 95-percent. The data also allows for disaggregation by urban/rural divide, gender and socio-economic classification at the national level, as well as by within and outside the Western Province.
About LIRNEasia: LIRNEasia is an Asia Pacific ICT policy and regulation think tank. Its mission is to catalyze policy change through research to improve people’s lives in the emerging Asia Pacific by facilitating their use of hard and soft infrastructures through the use of knowledge, information and technology.
For more information see https://lirneasia.net/
In the US, the most popular link on Facebook in the first quarter of 2021 was a story about a doctor who died after receiving the vaccine Covid-19.
In response to a report, the piece – updated to indicate there was no correlation with the vaccine – became popular among vaccine skeptics.
An article reported in a mainstream US newspaper that a doctor had died after getting vaccinated against Covid-19. That was the most viewed Facebook Link in USA. The link attracted nearly 54 million views. A subsequent update of the article indicated that insufficient evidence existed for concluding that the vaccine caused the death.
NEW w/ @rmac18: Facebook released its first-ever quarterly report on Widely Viewed Content this week. But an earlier report from Q1 existed and was shelved, bc execs were scared it would make the company look bad. https://t.co/SYcqhb7MQK
The vaccine has been deemed safe and highly effective by health authorities around the world. Having the story of a doctor who died two weeks after receiving a Covid-19 vaccination widely circulated on the internet shows just how fertile a breeding ground Facebook can be for anti-vaccination content. According to the BBC, this can partly be explained by a network of activists who oppose Coronavirus vaccines.
One of their main tactics has been to promote emotive, personal stories like this one on Facebook in order to scare others away from getting jabbed – even when, as was the case with this story, it turns out the death had no relation to the Covid-19 vaccine at all. Through the pandemic, these activists have muddled together real – and rare – cases of adverse reactions from vaccines with extreme online conspiracies, exploiting medical debates, genuine grief, and legitimate questions.
Similarly, this illustrates the complexity of the disinformation ecosystem on social media – where users take a grain of truth, in this case a reliable news story, and turn it into a misleading narrative without the facts to support it.
In response to a call of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne, from the Chief of Naval Staff of India, Admiral Karambir Singh, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Shakti was rushed to Sri Lanka with a batch of medical-grade oxygen, ordered from India. Accordingly, the ship which left the Visakhapatnam Port with freight of approx. 100 tons of oxygen on 19th August 2021, arrived at the port of Colombo last evening (22nd August).
In accordance with the directives given by His Excellency the President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to keep up the supply chain of oxygen for treatment of COVID-19 patients, Commander of the Navy made a personal request from the Chief of Naval Staff of India, to assist the prompt dispatch of medical-grade oxygen, ordered from India. As a result of that, this generous gesture transpired, signifying the long-standing cooperation between the two navies.
INS Shakti is a 175m long Fleet Tanker in service with the Indian Navy. The ship is manned by a crew of 158 and she is commanded by Captain ABY Mathew. The visiting ship was welcomed adhering to COVID-19 protocols in effect, at the port of Colombo by Sri Lanka Navy. Upon unloading the 05 containers of medical grade oxygen brought in, the ship is scheduled to depart the island on 23rd August, carrying the empty ones back.
In the meantime, on the morning of 23rd August, Commander of the Navy is expected to make a visit of inspection at the Unity Container Terminal (UCT) at the Colombo harbour, where INS Shakti is berthed alongside. During this visit, Commander of the Navy will share a light moment with the crew of the ship and extend his profound gratitude to the Indian Navy for swiftly sending this batch of oxygen to Sri Lanka, on the request of Sri Lanka Navy.
In a separate development, Sri Lanka Naval Ship Shakthi that left Trincomalee harbour for Chennai port in India on 17th August for a shipment of medical-grade oxygen reached the port of Chennai on 18th August. Taking the delivery of oxygen the ship departed Chennai on 20th August and is scheduled to arrive in Colombo midnight today (22nd August) with approx. 40 tons of oxygen consignment.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka Navy is quite prepared to cooperate with navies in the region and render its noble duty for the country, with the mutual support of regional partners and utilizing own assets to the best of its potential, whenever the Navy is called for service.
The key observations and recommendations indicated below represent the consensus achieved by the national experts at the meeting and do not necessarily reflect those of WHO. Global WHO guidance is available if needed.
The current situation : Sri Lanka
The Experts noted with great concern the current surge in COVID-19, nearly overwhelming the capacity of the health systems to provide the required adequate care for the people. The trends given below indicate that Sri Lanka could soon face a health crisis of unprecedented proportions.
Sri Lanka is showing a rapid increase in daily reported number of cases and deaths (111 deaths reported on 09 August 2021 representing a doubling of deaths in a short space of time).
Bed occupancy rates at all levels of care facilities (over 85%) and ICU’s (over 90%) have increased progressively and is now in full capacity. Patients dependent on oxygen have significantly increased from 528 last week to 646 patients yesterday. If this trend continues, there is inevitability of a serious shortage of oxygen supply and interruption of care.
Many areas of the country show a high PCR test positivity rate of over 20%.
As of 31 July 2021, more than 60% of sequenced samples are Delta variant, which is highly transmissible with shorter incubation period. It is now the dominant variant in Western Province and will soon spread to other areas. Delta variant spreads rapidly as has been shown in several countries. The crisis will be magnified once Delta variant has spread countrywide because most of the other provinces are not as well vaccinated as the Western province.
For the vaccine that is used most widely, community vaccination will take 2-3 weeks after the second dose to provide adequate protection from severe disease and death. As of 09 August, less than 15% of the population is fully vaccinated. The newly vaccinated, single-dose vaccinated or unvaccinated groups are at very high risk of severe illness and it is very likely that there will be further increase of cases and deaths, particularly in densely populated areas.
Significant number of health workers are getting infected with a consequent pressure for curtailment and closure of services. All indications are that the staff are exhausted and struggling.
Amidst this situation, there is sustained high level of mobility and social mixing among population despite the nationwide restrictions (Oxford ‘Stringency Index’ was 85% (i.e. very effective restrictions in movement) in May, 49% in July and 29% by this week (i.e. dangerously low levels of movement restrictions).
The figure given in the Appendix and linked pdf shows a very clear inverse relationship between Sri Lanka’s stringency index value (black line) and the number of cases and deaths brown areas.
The Projection
The Monash University, Australia in collaboration with WHO SEAR and Sri Lanka County Office did some projections on notified cases and deaths using the MoH Epidemiology Unit data. The projections assumed that 50% will be fully vaccinated by end of August 2021. The details are given in Appendix 2. In summary:
At current levels of mobility restrictions, the number of cases would increase up to mid-September at 6,000 cases/ day, deaths up to early October coming to a peak at around 220 deaths/day. ICU admission will peak at around 275 by early October with cumulative deaths around 30,000 by Jan 2022. But note that since we have not yet achieved the vaccine coverage assumed in the model, the projections are an under-estimate.
At increased levels of stringency (similar to May-June 2021) for 4 weeks, the country will have less numbers of cases of around 1,000 /day, deaths less than 25 /day and ICU care to less than 25 /day (by October 2021) and avert 18,000 deaths by Jan 2022.
Recommendations:
We need to ACT NOW.
Our urgent priority is to SAVE LIVES. Sri Lanka will avert about 18,000 deaths by Jan 2022 if the level of stringency is immediately increased similar to May 2021 for 4 weeks.
This will give the required time to accelerate vaccination and achieve the level of protection following the second dose of vaccines; as well as for the health system to recover from the overwhelming case load.
Immediate actions are crucial and critical because it takes a few weeks before measures show a positive impact on the number of infections and hospital admissions. Any delay in implementation will lead to increase in deaths and will require even more stringent measures with longer duration to regain control.
More detailed recommendations are that Sri Lanka should:
Strictly enforce movement restrictions, including inter-district travel except for essential services. The effective implementation of these measures may require the enforcement of a curfew for a short period, in large geographic areas or nationally.
Restrict /cancel all public events for 3 weeks.
Provide care and protect the health workers and augment staffing in hospitals to minimize disruption of essential health services.
Develop and implement an effective communication plan to engage the public and to update them on the control measures.
Accurate reporting of both cases and deaths to get a better picture of the ground situation. May also use proxy indicators such as observed Test Positivity Rate (TPR), trends measured using weekly moving averages and time series analysis, mobility data, etc.
Prioritize to vaccinate all those over 60 years old and those with co-morbidities, preferably with Pfizer, Moderna or Astra Zeneca because even a single dose of these vaccines provides some degree of protection until the second dose is given.
Joint Statement by the Heads of the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, and World Trade Organization
30 June 2021 : who.int
The Heads of the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organization, and World Trade Organization today convened for the first meeting of the Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Developing Countries. They issued the following joint statement:
“As many countries are struggling with new variants and a third wave of COVID-19 infections, accelerating access to vaccines becomes even more critical to ending the pandemic everywhere and achieving broad-based growth. We are deeply concerned about the limited vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and support for deliveries available to developing countries. Urgent action is needed now to arrest the rising human toll due to the pandemic, and to halt further divergence in the economic recovery between advanced economies and the rest.
We have formed a Task Force, as a “war room” to help track, coordinate and advance delivery of COVID-19 health tools to developing countries and to mobilize relevant stakeholders and national leaders to remove critical roadblocks—in support of the priorities set out by World Bank Group, IMF, WHO, and WTO including in the joint statements of June 1 and June 3, and in the IMF staff’s $50 billion proposal.
At today’s first meeting, we discussed the urgency of increasing supplies of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for developing countries. We also looked at practical and effective ways to track, coordinate and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries.
As an urgent first step, we are calling on G20 countries to (1) embrace the target of at least 40 percent in every country by end-2021, and at least 60 percent by the first half of 2022, (2) share more vaccine doses now, including by ensuring at least 1 billion doses are shared with developing countries in 2021 starting immediately, (3) provide financing, including grants and concessional financing, to close the residual gaps, including for the ACT-Accelerator, and (4) remove all barriers to export of inputs and finished vaccines, and other barriers to supply chain operations.
In addition, to enhance transparency we agreed to compile data on dose requests (by type and quantity), contracts, deliveries (including through donations), and deployments of COVID-19 vaccines to low and middle-income countries—and make it available as part of a shared country-level dashboard. We also agreed to take steps to address hesitancy, and to coordinate efforts to address gaps in readiness, so countries are positioned to receive, deploy and administer vaccines.”
Tourism News | Economic losses are mounting in developing countries due to the absence of widespread COVID-19 vaccinations.
The crash in international tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic could cause a loss of more than $4 trillion to the global GDP for the years 2020 and 2021, according to an UNCTAD report published on 30 June.
The estimated loss has been caused by the pandemic’s direct impact on tourism and its ripple effect on other sectors closely linked to it.
A similar loss may occur this year, the report warns, noting that the tourism sector’s recovery will largely depend on the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines globally.
“The world needs a global vaccination effort that will protect workers, mitigate adverse social effects and make strategic decisions regarding tourism, taking potential structural changes into account,” UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Isabelle Durant said.
UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Tourism is a lifeline for millions, and advancing vaccination to protect communities and support tourism’s safe restart is critical to the recovery of jobs and generation of much-needed resources, especially in developing countries, many of which are highly dependent on international tourism.”
Tourism is a lifeline for millions, and advancing vaccination to protect communities and support tourism’s safe restart is critical to the recovery of jobs and generation of much-needed resources, especially in developing countries, many of which are highly dependent on international tourism
Developing countries hurt by vaccine inequity
With COVID-19 vaccinations being more pronounced in some countries than others, the report says, tourism losses are reduced in most developed countries but worsened in developing countries.
COVID-19 vaccination rates are uneven across countries, ranging from below 1% of the population in some countries to above 60% in others.
According to the report, the asymmetric roll-out of vaccines magnifies the economic blow tourism has suffered in developing countries, as they could account for up to 60% of the global GDP losses.
The tourism sector is expected to recover faster in countries with high vaccination rates, such as France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, the report says.
But experts don’t expect a return to pre-COVID-19 international tourist arrival levels until 2023 or later, according to UNWTO.
The main barriers are travel restrictions, slow containment of the virus, low traveller confidence and a poor economic environment.
Up to $1.8 trillion loss expected in 2021
A rebound in international tourism is expected in the second half of this year, but the UNCTAD report still shows a loss of between $1.7 trillion and $2.4 trillion in 2021, compared with 2019 levels.
The results are based on simulations that capture the effects of international tourism reduction only, not policies such as economic stimulus programmes that may soften the pandemic’s impact on the sector.
The report assesses the economic effects of three possible scenarios – all reflecting reductions in international arrivals – in the tourism sector in 2021.
Figure 1: As tourism falls world GDP takes a hit in 2021 (3 alternative scenarios)
Source: UNCTAD based on GTAP simulations
The first one, projected by UNWTO, reflects a reduction of 75% in international tourist arrivals – the most pessimistic forecast – based on the tourist reductions observed in 2020.
In this scenario, a drop in global tourist receipts of $948 billion causes a loss in real GDP of $2.4 trillion, a two-and-a-half-fold increase. This ratio varies greatly across countries, from onefold to threefold or fourfold.
This is a multiplier and depends on the backward linkages in the tourism sector, including the unemployment of unskilled labour, according to the report.
For example, international tourism contributes about 5% of the GDP in Turkey and the country suffered a 69% fall in international tourists in 2020.
The country’s fall in tourism demand is estimated at $33 billion and this leads to losses in closely linked sectors such as food, beverages, retail trade, communications and transport.
Turkey’s total fall in output is $93 billion, about three times the initial shock. The decline in tourism alone contributes to a real GDP loss of about 9%. This decline in reality was partly offset by fiscal measures to stimulate the economy.
Figure 2: Estimated losses in GDP by region from reduction in tourism (percentage)
Source: UNCTAD based on GTAP simulations
The second scenario reflects a 63% reduction in international tourist arrivals, a less pessimistic forecast by UNWTO.
And the third scenario, formulated by UNCTAD, considers varying rates of domestic and regional tourism in 2021.
It assumes a 75% reduction of tourism in countries with low vaccination rates, and a 37% reduction in countries with relatively high vaccination rates, mostly developed countries and some smaller economies.
Job losses across countries
According to the report, the reduction in tourism causes a 5.5% rise in unemployment of unskilled labour on average, with a high variance of 0% to 15%, depending on the importance of tourism for the economy.
Labour accounts for around 30% of tourist services’ expenditure in both developed and developing economies. Entry barriers in the sector, which employs many women and young employees, are relatively low.
Losses worse than previously expected
In July last year, UNCTAD estimated that a four- to 12-month standstill in international tourism would cost the global economy between $1.2 trillion and $3.3 trillion, including indirect costs.
But the losses are worse than previously expected, as even the worst-case scenario UNCTAD projected last year has turned out to be optimistic, with international travel still low more than 15 months after the pandemic started.
According to UNWTO, international tourist arrivals declined by about 1 billion or 73% between January and December 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer points to a decline of 84%.
Figure 3: International tourist arrivals (in thousands)
Source: UNCTAD based on UNWTO
Developing countries have borne the biggest brunt of the pandemic’s impact on tourism. They suffered the largest reductions in tourist arrivals in 2020, estimated at between 60% and 80%.
The most-affected regions are North-East Asia, South-East Asia, Oceania, North Africa and South Asia, while the least-affected ones are North America, Western Europe and the Caribbean.
COVAX was built on the principle of equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines to protect the health of people all across the globe. That means protecting their lives and livelihoods, including their ability to travel and conduct trade. As travel and other possibilities begin to open up in some parts of the world, COVAX urges all regional, national and local government authorities to recognise as fully vaccinated all people who have received COVID-19 vaccines that have been deemed safe and effective by the World Health Organization and/or the 11 Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs) approved for COVID-19 vaccines, when making decisions on who is able to travel or attend events.
Any measure that only allows people protected by a subset of WHO-approved vaccines to benefit from the re-opening of travel into and with that region would effectively create a two-tier system, further widening the global vaccine divide and exacerbating the inequities we have already seen in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. It would negatively impact the growth of economies that are already suffering the most.
Such moves are already undermining confidence in life-saving vaccines that have already been shown to be safe and effective, affecting uptake of vaccines and potentially putting billions of people at risk. At a time when the world is trying to resume trade, commerce and travel, this is counter-effective, both in spirit and outcome.
COVAX commends countries that have already shown commitment to equity as well as safety by accepting travelers protected by all vaccines validated by WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) and/or the 11 Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs) approved for COVID-19 vaccines. We call on other nations and regions to do the same.
About COVAX
COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-convened by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Gavi) and the World Health Organization (WHO) – working in partnership with UNICEF as key implementing partner, developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.
CEPI’s role in COVAX
CEPI is leading on the COVAX vaccine research and development portfolio, investing in R&D across a variety of promising candidates, with the goal to support development of three safe and effective vaccines which can be made available to countries participating in the COVAX Facility. As part of this work, CEPI has secured first right of refusal to potentially over one billion doses for the COVAX Facility to a number of candidates, and made strategic investments in vaccine manufacturing, which includes reserving capacity to manufacture doses of COVAX vaccines at a network of facilities, and securing glass vials to hold 2 billion doses of vaccine. CEPI is also investing in the ‘next generation’ of vaccine candidates, which will give the world additional options to control COVID-19 in the future.
Gavi’s role in COVAX
Gavi leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX: designing and managing the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its traditional Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery. As part of this role, Gavi hosts the Office of the COVAX Facility to coordinate the operation and governance of the mechanism as a whole, holds financial and legal relationships with 193 Facility participants, and manages the COVAX Facility deals portfolio: negotiating advance purchase agreements with manufacturers of promising vaccine candidates to secure doses on behalf of all COVAX Facility participants. Gavi also coordinates design, operationalisation and fundraising for the Gavi COVAX AMC, the mechanism that provides access to donor-funded doses of vaccine to 92 lower-income economies. As part of this work, Gavi provides funding and oversight for UNICEF procurement and delivery of vaccines to all AMC participants – operationalising the advance purchase agreements between Gavi and manufacturers – as well as support for partners’ and governments work on readiness and delivery. This includes tailored support to governments, UNICEF, WHO and other partners for cold chain equipment, technical assistance, syringes, vehicles, and other aspects of the vastly complex logistical operation for delivery. Gavi also co-designed, raises funds for and supports the operationalisation of the AMC’s no fault compensation mechanism as well as the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer.
WHO’s role in COVAX
WHO has multiple roles within COVAX: It provides normative guidance on vaccine policy, regulation, safety, R&D, allocation, and country readiness and delivery. Its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization develops evidence-based immunization policy recommendations. Its Emergency Use Listing (EUL) / prequalification programmes ensure harmonized review and authorization across member states. It provides global coordination and member state support on vaccine safety monitoring. It developed the target product profiles for COVID-19 vaccines and provides R&D technical coordination. WHO leads, together with UNICEF, the Country Readiness and Delivery workstream, which provides support to countries as they prepare to receive and administer vaccines. Along with Gavi and numerous other partners working at the global, regional, and country-level, the CRD workstream provides tools, guidance, monitoring, and on the ground technical assistance for the planning and roll-out of the vaccines. Along with COVAX partners, WHO has developed a no-fault compensation scheme as part of the time-limited indemnification and liability commitments
UNICEF’s role in COVAX
UNICEF is leveraging its experience as the largest single vaccine buyer in the world and working with manufacturers and partners on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine doses, as well as freight, logistics and storage. UNICEF already procures more than 2 billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunisation and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries. In collaboration with the PAHO Revolving Fund, UNICEF is leading efforts to procure and supply doses of COVID-19 vaccines for COVAX. In addition, UNICEF, Gavi and WHO are working with governments around the clock to ensure that countries are ready to receive the vaccines, with appropriate cold chain equipment in place and health workers trained to dispense them. UNICEF is also playing a lead role in efforts to foster trust in vaccines, delivering vaccine confidence communications and tracking and addressing misinformation around the world.
About ACT-Accelerator
The Access to COVID-19 Tools ACT-Accelerator, is a new, ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. It was set up in response to a call from G20 leaders in March and launched by the WHO, European Commission, France and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020.
The ACT-Accelerator is not a decision-making body or a new organisation, but works to speed up collaborative efforts among existing organisations to end the pandemic. It is a framework for collaboration that has been designed to bring key players around the table with the goal of ending the pandemic as quickly as possible through the accelerated development, equitable allocation, and scaled up delivery of tests, treatments and vaccines, thereby protecting health systems and restoring societies and economies in the near term. It draws on the experience of leading global health organisations which are tackling the world’s toughest health challenges, and who, by working together, are able to unlock new and more ambitious results against COVID-19. Its members share a commitment to ensure all people have access to all the tools needed to defeat COVID-19 and to work with unprecedented levels of partnership to achieve it.
The ACT-Accelerator has four areas of work: diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines and the health system connector. Cross-cutting all of these is the workstream on Access & Allocation.
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