An effective response to the pandemic requires high-income countries "to share in an equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the world", they wrote. "The uncertainty over global access to COVID-19 vaccines traces not only to ongoing clinical testing, but also from the failure of governments and vaccine manufacturers to be more transparent and accountable over these arrangements," they added. As of Nov 15, high-income nations had pre-ordered nearly 7.5 billion doses of vaccines from 13 manufacturers, the paper said. Even if leading manufacturers' vaccines reach their projected maximum production capacity, nearly 25% of the world's population may not get the vaccines for another year or more, according to the paper. Launched in April, the global pact aims to pool funds from wealthier countries and nonprofits to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and distribute them equitably around the world.

Source: bd News24 December 15, 2020 22:30 UTC