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GENEVA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is
in advanced negotiations with Pfizer about including the
company's COVID-19 vaccine in the agency's portfolio of shots to
be shared with poorer countries, a senior WHO official said on
Monday.
"We are in ... detailed discussions with Pfizer. We believe
very soon we will have access to that product," Bruce Aylward, a
senior adviser, said at the WHO's executive board meeting,
adding that it would then look to add other vaccines.
The WHO's vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX is set to start
rolling out vaccines to poor and middle income countries in
February with 2 of 3 billion targeted doses expected to be
delivered this year.
WHO already has deals with several suppliers, including
AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute of India.
However, critics say the absence of Pfizer's shot is an
important gap and one of the reasons that poorer countries are
lagging behind wealthier ones in administering vaccines.
So far, 44 countries out of the 50 that have already begun
vaccinations have used the Pfizer shot, WHO data showed.
The vaccine needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius
(-94 F) or below which the WHO has said creates difficulties for
some developing countries.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday
blamed vaccine nationalism for the inequity, saying the world
was on the brink of "catastrophic moral failure" and has urged
countries and manufacturers to spread doses more fairly.
(Reporting by Emma Farge and Stephanie Nebehay
Editing by Gareth Jones)
