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Pfizer to supply 40 million COVID-19 shots for poor countries

Pfizer to supply 40M COVID-19 shots for poor countries

Pfizer to supply 40 million COVID-19 shots for poor countries

Boxes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the Pfizer Global Supply Kalamazoo manufacturing plant in Portage, Mich. (Photo: AP/Morry Gash)

NEW YORK: Pfizer on Friday (Jan 22) committed to supply up to 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year to a World Health Organization-backed effort to get affordable shots to poor and middle-income countries.

The deal is a boost to the global programme known as COVAX, as wealthy nations have snapped up most of the millions of coming shots.

The commitment, announced at a virtual press conference held by the Geneva-based WHO, is seen as important because Pfizer and its partner BioNTech won the first emergency authorisation from the influential US Food and Drug Administration in mid-December. That clearance makes it easier for international health groups and poor nations to quickly OK emergency use.

Earlier this week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticised drugmakers for seeking profits from the pandemic and mostly supplying wealthy countries.

The 40 million doses - for a vaccine requiring two doses - are a tiny sliver of what's needed for COVAX, which aims to vaccinate billions of people in 92 low- and middle-income countries.

READ: Pfizer cuts COVID-19 vaccine deliveries by as much as half to some EU countries

READ: WHO plans slew of COVID-19 vaccine approvals for global roll-out

The global programme previously secured access to nearly 2 billion doses of vaccines from five other vaccine producers, plus options on a billion doses more.

New York-based Pfizer had not previously committed to providing its COVID-19 vaccine to poor countries without making a profit during the pandemic, as a couple rivals have.

However, Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech said they would provide their vaccine to COVAX at an undisclosed “not-for-profit price.” The companies still must execute a supply agreement covering distribution, but the doses are to be delivered throughout 2021, starting by the end of March.

“We share the mission of COVAX and are proud to work together so that developing countries have the same access as the rest of the world, which will bring us another step closer to ending this global pandemic,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

READ: German COVID-19 fight hit by delay to Pfizer vaccine

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Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, which is leading procurement and delivery of vaccines for COVAX, called the deal “a major step forward for equitable access to vaccines.”

The US drugmaker has finished enrolling children aged between 12 and 15 in a study testing its COVID-19 vaccine, as it seeks to expand the shot's use among different age groups.

The study, which was announced in October, had enrolled over 2,000 participants, a Pfizer spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which are being rolled out in the United States, are not yet available for use in children due to a lack of study data.

Children rarely experience severe COVID-19 symptoms but they could still spread the virus.

Last month, Moderna also began a study to test its vaccine, which uses a similar technology as the Pfizer vaccine, in adolescents aged 12 to less than 18.

Pfizer and BioNTech said they would also help health systems handle the vaccine, which requires ultracold storage.

Many public health officials have expressed skepticism that the Pfizer vaccine could be successfully kept so cold across the globe. Pfizer has been shipping the shots in special containers with dry ice, but even in the US some doses have been thrown out because they weren't kept at the proper temperature.

Pfizer has said it’s been ramping up production and expects to be able to make 2 billion doses in 2021, up from its earlier forecast of 1.3 billion doses. That long-term goal comes with a short-term cost: The company is slowing production at its Belgium factory while it makes changes needed to boost production.

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Source: Agencies/nh

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