WHO urges vaccine makers to give COVAX 50% of doses

By Sola Ogundipe & Chioma Obinna

The more transmissible variant of the COVID-19 virus that was first discovered in India is currently spreading even as fully vaccinated people are being hospitalised as a result of infection of the variant.

This is coming as the UK government  disclosed that three fully vaccinated people out of 120 people infected with the variant which has been renamed the “Delta” variant by the World Health Organisation, have been admitted to the hospital.

The highly transmissible coronavirus variant now accounts for 6 percent of infections in the US, even as vaccines are said to be effective against it as it quickly spread in the United Kingdom and beyond.

There are fears that the variant may be taking over in the United Kingdom and that the  United States is also at risk.

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Experts say the more transmissible Delta variant has been causing infections to increase, with health officials saying it could be 40 per cent more transmissible than the so-called beta variant.

In the UK, hospital admissions are one of the government’s four key tests when considering the easing of restrictions.

Of the 12,383 UK cases of the Delta variant, up to 3 June, 126 people were admitted to hospital.

Of those, 83 had not received a vaccine and 28 had been given one dose. Only three of the 12,000 – 0.02 per cent – had received both of their vaccine doses.

As of Sunday, almost 28 million had received both doses. “The jabs are working. We have to keep coming forward to get them and that includes, vitally, that second jab which we know gives better protection against the Delta variant,” a government official stated.

WHO urges vaccine makers to give COVAX 50% of doses

Meanwhile, the WHO has called for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to give COVAX first refusal on new doses, or commit half of their volumes to the global jab equity scheme.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said manufacturers should turn their attention to the COVAX facility, which has struggled to get donation-funded doses to poorer countries.

Tedros called for a massive global effort to vaccinate at least 10 percent of the population of all countries by September, and at least 30 percent by the end of the year. This will require an additional 250 million doses by September, with 100 million doses in June and July alone.

As the G7 leaders meet on their annual summit, Tedros  said: “I am calling on the G7 not just to commit to sharing doses, but to commit to sharing them in June and July.

“I also call on all manufacturers to give COVAX first right of refusal on new volume of COVID-19 vaccines, or to commit 50 percent of their volumes to COVAX this year.”

COVAX was set up to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines to low-income countries, and has delivered more than 80 million doses to 129 territories – about 200 million doses behind target.

Vanguard News Nigeria