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Indonesia reiterates supply concerns at COVAX as new COVID-19 waves hit
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi calls for the acceleration of global vaccination as many developing countries are struggling to contain the latest COVID-19 infection wave.
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Boxes of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, redeployed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, arrive at a cold storage facility in Accra, Ghana on May 7, 2021. (Reuters/Francis Kokoroko)
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ndonesia has echoed concerns over the possibility of another delay in vaccine distribution under the COVAX facility, a multilateral vaccine distribution scheme, amid surges of COVID-19 cases in developing countries exacerbated by the spread of more transmissible virus variants.
The concerns were raised during the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Engagement Group virtual meeting on Monday. It was led by co-chairs Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse and Canadian International Development Minister Karina Gould.
During the meeting, the group discussed the latest updates on COVAX’s funding, as well as vaccine availability and delivery, including details of the batch to be delivered in the fourth quarter this year.
It also talked about targets of vaccine distribution to be achieved this year and potential mitigation of the risk of a lack of vaccines.
“Many countries are experiencing spikes in cases and deaths due to new variants and policies to ease restrictions. Meanwhile, the global vaccination gap continues to widen,” Retno said. “If this continues, the world will never win against COVID-19.”
Read also: G7 to provide 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses 'to world' by 2023
She echoed the statement made by World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in late June, saying that the world was in a dangerous stage of the pandemic due to the vaccination gap between countries.
