Pakistan has been chosen to be one of the first three recipients of Covid vaccines under COVAX program by the World Health Organization. The other two are Nigeria and Indonesia.
According to WHO plan, 238.2 million doses will be disbursed all over the world under the program by the end of May. The goal of the program is to provide vaccine’s access to poorer nations.
Though vaccination campaigns have gathered pace globally, the majority of injections have been administered in wealthier countries while many nations have yet to receive a single dose.
The WHO says providing vaccines to all nations across the world is the only way to eradicate the virus.
The Covax scheme, which is aimed at ensuring equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, on Tuesday outlined delivery plans for hundreds of millions of doses.
The five biggest confirmed recipients are Pakistan (14,640,000), Nigeria (13,656,000), Indonesia (11,704,800), Bangladesh (10,908,000) and Brazil (9,122,400).
They are followed by Ethiopia (7,620,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5,928,000), Mexico (5,532,000), Egypt (4,389,600) and Vietnam (4,176,000).
Iran, Myanmar, Kenya and Uganda are also in line for more than three million doses each.
India is also likely to be the biggest recipient of Covax doses by the end of May, but its allocation was not finalised before Tuesday’s distribution list publication.
Covax is co-led by the WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
“Our goal is to protect as many people as possible,” said Gavi chief executive Seth Berkley.
“Covax’s mission is to help end the acute phase of the pandemic as soon as possible.” The deliveries include some 237 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, being manufactured in India and South Korea, and another 1.2 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which requires special ultra-cold storage.
