The world’s richest countries can afford to donate over 150 million vaccines to nations in need without hampering their own vaccination efforts, UNICEF said on monday.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore urged the G7 countries and the European Union to donate jabs to the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme to bridge the gap in supplies caused by the curbs imposed by Indian authorities as the country battles one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks.
“Sharing immediately available excess doses is a minimum, essential and emergency stop-gap measure, and it is needed right now,” Fore said, emphasizing that the move could help prevent vulnerable countries from becoming the next virus hotspot.
The UN agency is responsible for supplying vaccines through COVAX, which is run jointly by the WHO and the GAVI vaccine alliance. The program relies heavily on the relatively low-cost AstraZeneca jab. However, supplies have been severely restricted after India curbed the export of the vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute amid massive shortages in the South Asian country.
Vaccine inequity poses challenges
Fore cited research from scientific information and analytics company Airfinity to state that G7 countries and the EU could donate nearly 153 million doses if they shared just 20% of their available supply over the next three months.
“And they could do this while still fulfilling their vaccination commitments to their own populations,” she added.
The UK is set to host a G7 summit next month. By then, COVAX will find itself 190 million doses short of its planned target.
Last week, the head of the World Health Organization denounced vaccine inequity, urging countries to donate vaccines instead of administering them to children, who are believed to be less vulnerable to the virus.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
A difficult mountain climb
Medical staff who want to vaccinate the inhabitants of the mountainous regions of southeastern Turkey must be physically fit. Ensuring vaccinations in the mountain villages is particularly important, Dr. Zeynep Eralp told DW. “People often live close together, and an infection could spread quickly,” she said. Also, people don’t like going to hospitals, so “we have to go to them.”
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Through snow and ice
Many elderly people can’t make the journey to a vaccination center. In the Maira Valley in the western Italian Alps, close to the border with France, doctors go from house to house to give residents older than 80 their COVID-19 shot. A blessing from the roadside Madonna is a bonus.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Flight to the remote north
Carrying a single vial containing several doses of vaccine, this nurse is en route to Eagle, a town on the Yukon River in the US state of Alaska with fewer than 100 inhabitants. Indigenous people are prioritized in many immunization programs. Depending on where they live, the nearest health clinic can be far away.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Some need convincing
Anselmo Tunubala washes his hands before vaccinating an elderly lady. Every day, the 49-year-old is out and about in the mountains of southwestern Colombia, telling people in the local language about the importance of a vaccination. He is a member of the Misak, many of whom are skeptical about vaccination because they tend to rely on traditional medicine and the guidance of religious leaders.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Hours of walking
The men and women in the above photo walked up to four hours to get their coronavirus shot in the remote village of Nueva Colonia in central Mexico. They belong to the indigenous Wixarika people, perhaps better known under the name Huichol.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Holding steady
For her shot, Olga Pimentel simply pulled up her boat next to that of the vaccination team. The community of Nossa Senhora do Livramento on the Rio Negro in Brazil can only be reached by river. “Beautiful! It hardly hurt,” the 72-year-old laughed and shouted, “Viva o SUS!” — “long live Brazil’s public health service!”
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Vaccination by candlelight
For a long time, right-wing populist President Jair Bolsonaro campaigned against COVID-19 vaccinations in Brazil. But in the meantime, the campaign has taken off. Indigenous people and quilombolas, descendants of African slaves, were among the first to be vaccinated. Raimunda Nonata, 70, lives in a community without power so she got her shot by candlelight.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Paddle over the lake
After their vaccination, an elderly woman and her daughter paddle away from the island of Bwama, the largest in Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda. The government in the central African country is trying to supply remote areas with the vaccine.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Rough terrain
Another journey over the water — but his time, no boat. On the way to the village of Jari in Zimbabwe, this vaccination team had to navigate a flooded road. According to the African Union’s health agency, Africa CDC, fewer than 1% of the population in Zimbabwe has been fully vaccinated to date. Medical staff came first.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Welcome house call
Japan may have huge, sprawling cities, but many people also live in small, isolated villages with only a few hundred inhabitants — like here, in Kitaaiki. Residents who can’t make it to the next city are happy to welcome the doctor and a vaccine at home.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Valuable goods
Indonesia launched its vaccination campaign in January. From Banda Aceh, the medical team traveled via boat to remote islands. The vaccines in the cooler are so valuable that the team was accompanied by security personnel.
-
COVID: Vaccinating people in the world’s most remote places
Superspreader event?
India has been hardest hit by the pandemic in recent weeks. In mid-March, medical personnel made their way to the village of Bahakajari on the Brahmaputra River, where a group of women registered for their COVID-19 shot. None wore face masks or kept a safe distance.
Author: Uta Steinwehr
see/sri (Reuters, AFP)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/unicef-chief-urges-rich-countries-to-donate-vaccines-to-covax/a-57550811?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf