Hi readers, are you familiar with COVAX and GAVI?. Don’t be surprised. COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility) is a system established by The World Health Organization (WHO) for equitable distribution of vaccine to all the countries.
The idea behind COVAX is to invest in 12 potential vaccines and ensure their early access “when” they become available. On 15 July 2020, seventy-five countries submitted expression of interest to joined COVAX facility.
It was expected that these 75 countries will finance the development of vaccine from their own public finance budget and will then partner with 90 (total 165) lower income countries who could be supported through voluntary donations to GAVI: International organization for Global Alliance for Vaccine, and third partner to COVAX who brings public and private sectors together.
The objective was “creating equal access to new and “underused” vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries” for which COVAX required $2 billion in donations to pay for the vaccine doses in 90 (lower income) countries for this purpose”.
It is widely believed in these countries is that:
“It is a brilliant business idea through which trials of newly developed vaccines will be conducted using people in the world’s poorest countries as Guinee pigs”.
These poorest countries are however happy thinking that they are getting vaccines free of cost (poor misinformed people).
This was the fourth sign of suspicion
Those who have invested in COVAX through GAVI have their own deals with manufacturers and will purchase directly from them and not from GAVI who somehow ensured them that signing up to COVAX is an insurance policy.
In cases, the vaccines they have invested in fail to materialize or show low to no efficacy they would still have access to other vaccines and the money they invest will be used to guarantee lower prices for poorer countries.
Apparently, COVIX ensured most of the countries irrespective of whether they can afford to pay or need financial assistance, will get their guaranteed share of doses. They have also ensured the rich countries who have their own deals with manufacturers. Bill Gate ensured them that:
There’s a unique thing about UK, where you give a very generous foreign aid budget to support globally, which is spent wisely. We partner with the government here to make sure that the money is spent well.
Now the question is that when the AstraZeneca became controversial, will those who have paid to COVAX for AstraZeneca get another vaccine in lieu of that? US and EU have stopped administering AstraZeneca which is being produced in India under the brand name of “Covishield”. India has now stopped exporting “Covishield” to other countries. Pfizer-BioNTech, which is currently being administered in several countries, needs storage at -70oC and can only be moved to a limited number of places thus, it would be difficult to send it to India where summer temperatures some time reaches 500C.
Sputnik V has also been approved for production in India but has yet to receive approval for emergency use from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the WHO. SinoVac and Sinofarma can be stored at 2-80C and can be sent to India, but these vaccines are largely being manufactured in China.
Thus, the vaccine shortage will stay there until AstraZeneca get free of strings attached, and Covaxin, Sputnik V gets approval of WHO, and China allow India to manufacture SinoVac and Sinofarma there.
The New York Time on February 5, 2021, published an opinion article titled “It is time to trust China’s and Russia’s vaccines. They too work, and they can help fill shortages everywhere”. The NYT opined that while the rich countries in the world are struggling with shortages of COVID-19 vaccines, some of the poorest countries are worried if they will get vaccine at all?
The solution to both problems may be hiding in plain sight. The vaccines could be abundantly available for the poor and even other countries where there is shortage, but these vaccines are unnoticeable or staying at places where their presence is masked. These vaccines are from China and Russia. Why are these vaccines masked? May be because of the initial dismissal from western and other global media due to the perception attached to these countries from the very beginning that they were inferior compared to the vaccines produced by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca. The perception seemed to stem partly from the fact that China and Russia are authoritarian states.
Nevertheless, the accumulated evidence as published by the “Lancet” suggested that vaccines from Russia and China work well, too (Chinese vaccines are highly trusted and abundantly used vaccines in Pakistan). The results from late-stage trials showed that Sputnik V, exhibited an efficacy rate of nearly 92% (91.6%) and hence there is no harm in placing orders for Sputnik V which has already been distributed in more than 12 countries in Europe, the middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
The NYT concluded that these countries have made decision after conducting their own independent trials. To assume otherwise is amounting to doubt the ability and integrity of these Government.
During COVID 19 induced travelling restriction, shortage of vaccine felt in France, Spain, and Germany due to delivery delays hence, to avoid the spread of COVID-19 especially of its different variant originating continuously in different countries, they planned to place orders for obtaining Russian and Chinese vaccines but Ukraine war sabotage not only this initiative but approval from WHO also delayed.
Whether France, Germany or Spain have got vaccine through GAVI is not known but Pakistan being part of GAVI, is getting free vaccine for 20% of her population. This was revealed by Parliamentary Secretary on National Health Services (NHS). She said, “Pakistan has increased its funds allocated for purchasing COVID-19 vaccine to $250 million and signed “non-disclosure agreement” (according to a senior officer of minister of Health: https://www.dawn.com/news/1595458) with various multinational companies. Under the agreement, “the recipient country will not make details of the vaccine public”.
This was the fifth sign of suspicion.
Why? Are the health authorities in Pakistan deceiving the public or out rightly lying? is a big question. What is there to hide? Such situations create distrust and uncertainty in public for such free and/or low-priced health assistance to Pakistan (and may be elsewhere as well) from the multinational companies whom public do not trust at all, and it was perhaps this type of distrust that compelled the German people to protest in Berlin against BMGF.
She further said, “we are part of GAVI in which there are 189 countries, and we will get free vaccine for 20 pc of the population”. I hope that we will acquire the vaccine for 30% of our population in the second quarter of 2021 and the remaining by the end of 2021. But there are questions of cold storage chain and technical assistance that GAVI is providing to Pakistan not only for vaccine cold storage chain., but also for:
- risk communication strategy.,
- social data collection and rumors management.,
- safety surveillance including tool, planning and conducting/administering vaccine,
- pharmacovigilance activities., and
- for active surveillance of specific COVID-19 vaccine related adverse events etc.
This data is no more in public domain. It can be accessed at https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/document/support/Country%20portal%20briefing .pdf through “GAVI country portal” which only the country manager can access. However, the following website is exhibiting a table titled “Pakistan GAVI TA plan 2021” which is showing all the above information that are in bold. https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/document/2021/Pakistan%20COVAX%20TA%2 0Plan%202021.pdf.
It is speculated that Pakistani population (as usual) will be used as “guinea pigs” in the trials for underused and/or vaccines whose development technology and trials are yet to be known to the public (or are intended not to be so) anticipating any adverse reaction in which if a Pakistani die will not make much difference. After all our, Governments consider most of us as “beings” not “humans” and if the money is involved “sky is the limit”. Who will trust GAVI? Will anybody opted to be vaccinated by vaccines provided by GAVI? (Pakistani prefer to be vaccinated with Chinese vaccines except those who travel abroad and visit especially the Middle Eastern countries where visitors are required to be vaccinated with Pfizer vaccine)
I guess none. GAVI will ultimately face the same dilemma that BMGF is facing
Distrust.
Got the answers dear readers? NOT YET? No problem. Read part 3 and you will be able to make your own decisions.
By till then, take care.
