WEB DESK
American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech pledged to deliver two billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to middle and low income countries over the next 18 months, amid international calls for more vaccine solidarity.
The companies, which together developed the first vaccine to be authorised for use in the United States and Europe, made the announcement yesterday at a global health summit in Rome co-hosted by the European Union’s executive arm and Italy.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said, they expect to provide a billion of the doses this year and another billion in 2022.
It was unclear whether the deliveries would take place through the UN-backed COVAX programme, which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 shots for low-and middle-income countries, or if countries would get the doses at a reduced price.
Mr Bourla said, his company last year adopted a three-tiered pricing policy guaranteeing that low-income countries get the shots at cost and to have middle-income nations pay about half the price wealthier nations are charged.
As vaccination campaigns continue to progress in the Western world, poorer countries are struggling to acquire supplies. The UN Security Council expressed concern this week about the small number of doses that have reached Africa.
Last week, World Health Organization Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged rich countries to donate their vaccines before immunising younger populations, including children. Experts warn that allowing the virus to spread unchecked anywhere in the world could lead to the emergence of potentially dangerous variants.
Despite a recent call by the United States to waive COVID-19 vaccine patents as a way to increase supplies, participants at the summit were expected to insist that intellectual property rights were an important tool to boost vaccine production. But, EU Parliament Member from Italy David Sassoli said that sharing patents is a necessity during the health crisis.