WHO authorizes AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine for emergency use
Video above: WHO Finds Original COVID-19 Outbreak in China Was More Widespread Than Reported
The World Health Organization has granted an emergency authorization to AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, a move that should allow the U.N. agency's partners to ship millions of doses to countries as part of a U.N.-backed program to tame the pandemic.
In a statement Monday, the WHO said it was clearing the AstraZeneca vaccines made by the Serum Institute of India and South Korea바카라 게임 웹사이트s AstraZeneca-SKBio.
The WHO바카라 게임 웹사이트s green light for the AstraZeneca vaccine is only the second one the U.N. health agency has issued after authorizing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December. Monday's announcement should trigger the delivery of hundreds of millions of doses to countries that have signed up for the U.N.-backed COVAX effort, which aims to deliver vaccines to the world바카라 게임 웹사이트s most vulnerable people.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Countries with no access to vaccines to date will finally be able to start vaccinating their health workers and populations at risk,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Dr. Mariângela Simão, the WHO's Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products.
The coronavirus has infected more than 109 million people and killed at least 2.4 million of them. But many countries have not yet started vaccination programs and even rich nations are facing shortages of vaccine doses as manufacturers struggle to ramp up production.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has already been authorized in more than 50 countries, including Britain, India, Argentina and Mexico. It is cheaper and easier to handle than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which needs deep-cold storage that is not widespread in many developing nations. Both vaccines require two shots per person, given weeks apart.
Last week, WHO vaccine experts recommended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over age 18, including in countries that have detected variants of COVID-19.
But that was contrary to the recommendation from the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said countries that had identified a virus variant first seen in South Africa should be 바카라 게임 웹사이트cautious바카라 게임 웹사이트 in their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, suggesting that other shots be prioritized instead.
The AstraZeneca vaccine forms the bulk of COVAX바카라 게임 웹사이트s stockpile and concerns were recently raised after an early study suggested it might not prevent mild and moderate disease caused by the variant first seen South Africa. Last week, South Africa scaled back its planned rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, opting instead to use an unlicensed shot from Johnson & Johnson for its health care workers.
COVAX has already missed its own goal of beginning coronavirus vaccinations in poor countries at the same time that shots were rolled out in rich countries. Numerous developing countries have rushed in recent weeks to sign their own private deals to buy vaccines, .
WHO and its partners, including the vaccines alliance GAVI, have not said which countries will receive the first doses from COVAX. But an initial plan showed a handful of rich countries that have signed multiple private vaccine deals, including Canada, South Korea and New Zealand, are also scheduled to receive early doses from COVAX.
Some public health experts called that 바카라 게임 웹사이트very problematic바카라 게임 웹사이트 and attributed it to COVAX바카라 게임 웹사이트s flawed design, by purchasing vaccines from the program while also signing their own commercial deals.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Canada has ordered enough doses to supply their population about five times over and now they바카라 게임 웹사이트re looking to accept their share of doses from COVAX, which would otherwise be given to poor nations,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Anna Marriott, health policy lead for Oxfam International.
WHO chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan has said rich countries that have signed up to receive vaccines from COVAX won바카라 게임 웹사이트t have their requests denied.
바카라 게임 웹사이트The COVAX facility is not going to penalize countries,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said in early February.
After pledging more than $400 million to COVAX last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was always his country바카라 게임 웹사이트s intention to get vaccines through COVAX.
Marriott said rich countries planning to take doses from COVAX should reconsider their intentions, given their earlier calls of support for the effort바카라 게임 웹사이트s goal of equal access to vaccines for all the world's nations, rich or poor.
바카라 게임 웹사이트It seems quite hypocritical,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said. "Rich countries with their own supplies should make the right call and not take vaccines from countries who are really in a dire situation.바카라 게임 웹사이트