That means rich countries can sign deals on their own with drugmakers and then also get no-strings-attached allocations from Gavi. "By giving rich countries this backup plan, they're getting their cake and eating it too," said Anna Marriott of Oxfam International. Berkley said Gavi needed to make investing in a global vaccine initiative attractive for rich countries. It had expected about four dozen high and middle income countries to sign up, in addition to nearly 90 developing countries. Yannis Natsis, a policy official at the European Public Health Alliance, said the last thing on the minds of officials in rich countries is sharing with poor ones.

Source: Ethiopian News July 14, 2020 06:22 UTC