Kenya to benefit from Sh16bn Covid-19 vaccine kitty

novavax vaccine covid-19

Dr Nita Patel, Director of Antibody discovery and Vaccine development, lifts a vial with a potential Covid-19, vaccine at Novavax labs in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on March 20, 2020.

Photo credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Gavi wants to ensure equitable access and distribution of vaccines so as to tame the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already killed over one million people globally.
  • The Covax programme has a total of 168 participating countries, after 76 self-financing countries joined the Covax Facility -- which is leading the procurement and the eventual equitable distribution Covid-19 vaccines.

Kenya is among low and middle-income countries which will benefit from The Vaccine Alliance’s (Gavi) funding to make the Covid-19 vaccine available at the earliest time possible.

Last week, Gavi announced that it had approved $150 million (about Sh16 billion) initial funding to 92 low and middle-income countries eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine advance market commitment programme (Covax AMC) which Kenya is part of, to make available Covid-19 vaccines.

Previously, the alliance announced that Covax AMC was seeking at least $2 billion “to meet at least part of the cost of procurement for the vaccine doses.”

But the current allocation was committed from Gavi’s core resources and “intends to help these countries prepare for the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines”.

According to a statement, Gavi wants to ensure equitable access and distribution of vaccines so as to tame the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already killed over one million people globally.

“The only way to bring the loss of life, damage to livelihoods and huge economic losses wrought by Covid-19 to an end is to defeat the pandemic everywhere,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Gavi Board.

Commitment

However, Covax AMC participating countries need to commit themselves and ensure continuity of routine immunisation programmes.

They also need to own the programme and promote global solidarity as well as unlock new funding by sharing the costs of Covid-19 vaccines and delivery, up to $1.60 – $2 (Sh160-Sh200) per dose, said Gavi.

This is the same amount which has been paid upfront by self-financing participants.

“The decisions taken today serve the twin goals of moving forward rapidly with our need to ensure equitable access to Covax-19 vaccines via the Covax Facility and Covax AMC, while supporting lower-income countries’ ability to maintain routine immunisation programmes and protect against the threat of other infectious diseases,” Dr Okonjo-Iweala added.

Gavi also left space for countries which will not be able to raise the amount at once to negotiate “until at least the end of 2021, to make certain that cost-sharing will not prevent or delay the introduction of Covid-19 vaccines in AMC-eligible economies and ensure that these economies do not need to reallocate existing budgets, diverting resources from other vital routine vaccine programmes.”

At the same time, the alliance agreed to carry forward $85 million “in potential waivers for countries co-financing obligations for Gavi support for immunisation activities if necessary.”

These obligations could be waived through 2021, but it is upon individual countries to request.

Stronger together

The Covax programme has a total of 168 participating countries, after 76 self-financing countries joined the Covax Facility -- which is leading the procurement and the eventual equitable distribution Covid-19 vaccines.

“The world has come together in an unprecedented way over the last few months, acknowledging the reality that, in a pandemic, we are most certainly stronger together,” said Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

In August, Gavi, in collaboration with Melinda Gates Foundation, contracted the Serum Institute of India (SII) to accelerate manufacture of 100 million doses of “safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines for low and middle-income countries in 2021.”

Among the vaccines SII is manufacturing is AstraZeneca’s ChAdOx1 and Novavax’s antigen vaccine -- the NVX-CoV2373.

Already, China has rolled out two experimental Covid-19 vaccines while, on her part, Kenya is looking forward to starting ChAdOx1 trial.