Governments, companies and individuals around the world have pledged $8.8bn for a global vaccines alliance to help immunisation programmes stalled by the coronavirus pandemic and support the development and distribution of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.
Polity report says the virtual meeting beat a funding target of $7.4bn for GAVI – the Vaccine Alliance, to provide vaccines at a reduced cost to 300m children worldwide over the next five years, the international group said.
More than 50 countries took part, as well as individuals such as billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation pledged $1.6bn.
"Together, we rise to fulfil the greatest shared endeavour of our lifetimes – the triumph of humanity over disease," said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hosted the summit.
The report says as scientists around the world race to develop and test a coronavirus vaccine, GAVI and partners also launched a new financing drive to buy potential COVID-19 vaccines, scale up production and support delivery to developing nations. "A vaccine must be seen as a global public good – a people's vaccine, which a growing number of world leaders are calling for," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is quoted as saying. There needed to be "global solidarity to ensure that every person, everywhere, has access".
Gates, co-founder of tech giant Microsoft, earlier said pharmaceutical companies had been working together to try to secure the required production capacity. "It's been amazing, the pharmaceutical companies stepping up to say 'yes, even if our vaccine is not the best, we will make our factories available'," the report quotes him as saying.
Guterres urged the conference to commit to finding "safe ways to continue delivering vaccinations, even as COVID-19 spreads". Recent GAVI-supported modelling from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated that for every coronavirus death prevented by halting vaccination campaigns in Africa, up to 140 people could die from vaccine-preventable diseases.
"More children in more countries are now protected against more diseases than at any point in history," said Seth Berkley, the CEO of GAVI. "However, these historic advances in global health are now at risk of unravelling as COVID-19 causes unprecedented disruption to vaccine programmes worldwide," he said.
Meanwhile, a team of British scientists developing a coronavirus vaccine has set up a special company to distribute it if they are successful, rather than partnering with a big pharmaceutical company, to ensure access for the world's poorest. Polity reports that the scientists from Imperial College London hope to bring a low-cost vaccine to the world early next year via a social enterprise – a company that seeks to do good as well as making a profit.
There is intense pressure to develop a vaccine for the new coronavirus, which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of jobs globally, with about 100 candidates in development. But, the report says some fear people in wealthier countries, where many of the vaccines and treatments are being developed, will receive them ahead of those in poorer countries.
Rather than partnering with one company, Imperial is looking to team up with multiple manufacturers, which could include major pharmaceutical companies. The social enterprise, called VacEquity Global Health (VGH), is backed by Imperial College and Hong Kong-based Morningside Ventures, which invests in companies that use innovative science for public good.
Human clinical trials for the vaccine begin next week, with the aim of distributing the vaccine next year, if it proves safe and effective.
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/vaccines-alliance-raises-88bn-for-global-immunisation-plans-2020-06-05"]Full Polity report[/link]
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/british-scientists-bypass-drug-giants-to-sell-potential-coronavirus-vaccine-2020-06-09"]Full Polity report[/link]