A new campaign to raise $2 billion for the global fight against COVID-19 was launched today at an event hosted by the United States and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Gavi has set a deadline of June for this additional round of funding, which would enable them to finance a total of 1.8 billion doses of COVAX Covid-19 vaccines for 92 lower-income countries by the end of the year. COVAX is a program is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of coronavirus vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. At the event, governments and private sector partners made early pledges worth nearly $400 million and committed to donate millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses to COVAX to benefit the most vulnerable, according to the news release. It includes commitments by Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, the Netherlands, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Visa Foundation among others. Google also announced a commitment to donate $2.5 million to COVAX and $15 million in Ad credits to Gavi. New Zealand said it would donate 1.6 million vaccine doses to COVAX, with a focus on the Pacific region. Speaking at the event, Gavi CEO Seth Berkley warned that the global supply of COVID-19 vaccines is " incredibly tight right now." He said it is unlikely COVAX will be able to secure "more supply in 2021 beyond the doses that we have reserved," calling on countries with excess supply to share spare vaccine doses with COVAX. At the same event, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot admitted the company has had bumps in the road. "It's been not only an R&D challenge but also a manufacturing challenge," he said adding that "manufacturing is ramping up very quickly now." — Courtesy CNN
