COVAX-19 mechanism. (Artwork: ABC News) In 2020, the Mechanism of “Global Access to Vaccines Against Covid-19” (COVAX for short) was established to help all countries have the opportunity to have quick, equitable and equal access to vaccines. prevent Covid-19. However, the goals of the above initiative are being “missed” due to lack of capital and selfishness of some developed countries. Launched in 2020, COVAX aims to buy two billion doses of vaccine to distribute to countries supporting the fight against Covid-19 before the end of 2021. However, the above ambitious plan is at risk of bankruptcy when Statistics show that, so far, only 68 million doses of vaccine from COVAX have been delivered, reaching 3.4% of the plan. Meanwhile, by the end of May 2021, there were 1.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine distributed worldwide, but only about 0.3% of them reached countries with low income. low input. World health experts point out that the disappointing results mentioned above are not due to the lack of efforts by the people in charge of the COVAX program of the World Health Organization (WHO), but mainly due to a lack of funding. There is a shortage of vaccine supplies, and rich countries are unwilling to share vaccines with poor countries. COVAX is intended to be a not-for-profit financial attraction structure. Accordingly, rich countries contribute financially to research many different vaccines at the same time to find some effective vaccines, and then provide them for free to 92 low-income countries who cannot afford to buy them. vaccine against Covid-19. For this mechanism to work, there needs to be enough rich countries to invest and commit to receive vaccines through COVAX. However, in reality, this initiative did not receive the necessary funds to support research and purchase the vaccine in the early stages. Even, many rich countries have signed contracts to buy vaccines individually with manufacturers such as Pfizer, Moderna, delaying the implementation of contracts for large-scale production of vaccines in 2021 under the COVAX mechanism. A major problem hindering COVAX’s vaccine supply efforts is the tight supply of vaccines. Part of the reason for this is the serious epidemic situation in India. The main vaccine supplier for COVAX is the Serum Institute of India, which is producing the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, with the outbreak of the disease, the planned supply of vaccine for COVAX had to be diverted to serve India’s domestic demand. WHO and the Global Vaccine Alliance Gavi, representing the organizations initiating the COVAX Mechanism, have just issued a statement stating that an additional $2 billion is needed to increase the coverage of immunization programs to nearly 30 million. %. To secure vaccine delivery this year and early 2022, COVAX needs the above amount before June 2 to close the supply. According to the original target, COVAX is expected to provide two billion doses of vaccine to countries in 2021 and 1.8 billion doses in early 2022. “Financial bottlenecks” are hindering goals and efforts COVAX’s vaccine delivery force. COVAX initiative managers also warn that, if the current emergency shortage of a Covid-19 vaccine is not addressed, “the consequences could be dire.” The above fact shows that COVAX’s “vaccine for everyone” and “leave no country behind” plan are being delayed. This is not only a problem of COVAX founders and managers, but a big global problem. Because, variants of this virus and new waves of epidemics can enter and re-emerge in developed countries at any time. The only way for humanity to win the current pandemic together is for governments and people of countries, especially developed countries, to share difficulties, distribute vaccines appropriately, and join hands to fight Covid-19.

Japan plans to produce the vaccine domestically. Illustration: CNN Shionogi is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare about a framework that would allow the efficacy and safety of vaccines to be assessed even with small-scale trials. This manufacturer hopes to contribute to the early prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic by focusing on investment and management of resources. In addition, the company has also completed a production line capable of supplying 10 million people a year with vaccines and plans to increase capacity further. Regarding Moderna’s vaccine approval process, on May 10, the pharmaceutical company Takeda said that clinical trials have confirmed that Moderna’s vaccine has helped increase antibodies in vaccinated people. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will evaluate and make a decision on whether to give the vaccine a “green light” as early as May 20.