Vaccine: "Solidarity with poor countries is necessary to overcome the virus"

Seth Berkley is Executive Director of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Over a million dead.

Almost 50 million confirmed cases.

The pandemic we are experiencing has spared no country in the world.

But behind these confirmed victims, there are still several tens of millions who could suffer from this crisis.

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Indeed, a new report from the World Bank has identified a genuinely worrying trend: by 2021, the pandemic could push up to 150 million people into extreme poverty - that is, incomes of less than US $ 1.90 per day, in countries where the poverty rate is already high.

Many of these people will live in overcrowded, unsanitary and dangerous urban areas.

Likely to work informally in the sectors most affected by the restrictions, they are unlikely to be able to benefit from social services.

Fragile environments (...) are hit hard by the health and economic crisis represented by this pandemic

Today, around the world, more than 40% of the poor live in fragile and conflict-affected countries.

The fragile environments, that is to say the places most affected by wars, forced displacement and natural disasters, are hit hard by the health and economic crisis represented by this pandemic.

COVID-19 and its already frightening consequences have drawn the world's attention to the essential role of vaccines in protecting lives, livelihoods and economies.

Vaccines do not just prevent infectious diseases - they also help promote equality, peace and stability, as they save lives and give opportunities to millions of people who in turn contribute to the disease. development of their country.

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The COVID-19 vaccine is possibly the most anticipated of our time, and the stakes have never been higher.

Without this vaccine, we will not be able to stop the spread of the virus itself, nor to mitigate the societal impacts of this crisis.

But without equity in the distribution of vaccines, countries in conflict and the most fragile economies will not be able to protect themselves from this disease, because they will not have the means to finance the purchase of the doses needed to vaccinate their populations.

This is why a global response to this need for COVID-19 vaccines is necessary: ​​the COVAX Facility, created and coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in collaboration with the Coalition for innovations in the field of epidemic preparedness (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), may well hold the key to the solution.

Almost half of these doses will be made available to people in the 92 poorest countries in the world.

COVAX is the most important multilateral initiative since the Paris Climate Agreement (2016).

By pooling the solidarity and resources of many countries, COVAX aims to raise at least $ 7 billion to finance vaccines for the poorest countries on the planet, and negotiate the purchase of doses for all the world's economies. .

With more than 180 member governments - which represents around 90% of the world's population - the COVAX Facility aims to make available 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. This should be enough to protect people. people most at risk, such as health and social service workers as well as the most vulnerable populations.

Thanks to an innovative financial mechanism, the COVAX market guarantee, almost half of these doses will be made available to the inhabitants of the 92 poorest countries in the world.

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To face this pandemic, there is only one possible choice: to unite.

This is how we can move forward together and end this crisis.