WHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Plans

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a preliminary framework for the global allocation of COVID-19 vaccines when they become available. The plan is intended to guide policymakers at the global, regional, and national level in their allocation and prioritization decisions about vaccines. WHO’s “fair allocation mechanism” emphasizes equitable allocation of vaccines and lists groups of people that should have priority access. The plan proposes vaccine distribution in two phases. In the first phase, all countries would receive vaccine doses in proportion to their population size - initially enough quantities to immunize 3 percent of their population with priority given to frontline medical workers and then additional doses until 20 percent of a nation’s population is immunized. In the second phase, vaccines to cover additional populations would be distributed to countries based on the country’s “COVID threat and vulnerability.” The WHO framework developed by its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization calls for higher income countries to ensure that lower income countries receive vaccines in the early days of allocation. WHO announced on September 21 that countries representing nearly two-thirds of the world’s population have joined its plan to fairly allocate COVID-19 vaccines. High-income countries that have joined WHO’s list of partners in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility inclu...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news