DEVELOPING NEWS:
It a worring situation, learning that the European Union is raising strong doubts over the authenticity of many Covid-19 vaccines donated to African countries by COVAX.
This development has been of great concern to the African Union and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) who have spoken up after it emerged that EU’s travel certificate initiative called “green pass” does not recognize a vaccine that was donated to many African countries through the COVAX initiative.
A statement form the European Mediacl Agency (EMA) says that the green pass recognizes AstraZeneca doses which are branded Vaxzevria only. These are doses made by manufacturers which are approved by the EMA.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Following the escalation of the convid-19 pandemic and the dangers it posed to humanity in general, there was great concern about how to ensure that a breakthrough in covid-19 vaccine will also benefit poorer countries around the world.
This led to the creation of COVAX initiative. It is coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO. The initiative supports the research, development and manufacturing of a wide range of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and negotiation of their pricing.
COVAX was lunched in Geneva on the 24th of April 2020. Gavi Board Chairperson is Nigeria`s Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She also acts as Special Envoy for the ACT Accelerator, alongside Sir Andrew Witty. ACT is the Access to COVID-19 Tools, which is a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
All participating countries, regardless of income levels, will have equal access to these vaccines once they are developed. The initial aim was to have 2 billion doses available by the end of 2021, which should be enough to protect high risk and vulnerable people, as well as frontline healthcare workers.
BASIC FACTS
- The EU Digital Covid Certificate enables people who have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine approved by its medicines regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), to travel freely within the bloc.
- EMA approved manufacturers of the AstraZeneca vaccine are based in Europe, US, South Korea and China
- The AstraZeneca vaccine donated to COVAX which are available in Nigeria and other African countries are manufactured by the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India. They are branded Covishield.
- The EMA have said in a statement that “Should we receive a marketing authorization application for Covishield or should any change to the approved manufacturing sites for Vaxzevria be approved, we would communicate about it.”
- The head of Serum Institute, Adar Poonawalla have said in a tweet Monday “I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries,”
NOTABLE QUOTE
“In the EU, the vaccine called Covishield does not currently have a marketing authorization. Even though it may use an analogous production technology to Vaxzevria, Covishield as such is not currently approved under EU rules. This is because vaccines are biological products. Even tiny differences in the manufacturing conditions can result in differences in the final product, and EU law therefore requires the manufacturing sites and production process to be assessed and approved as part of the authorization process.” The European Medical Agency (EMA) said in a statement to CNN
WHAT WE ARE WATCHING
This is indeed a troubling development. We are watching to see why this doubt have been raised by the EU, and why at this point in time. We are also monitoring this because the EU has been part of the COVAX initiative and some countries of the EU were part of the G7 that have donated massively to the COVAX fund.
We shall keep our readers posted.
FOLLOW THE NEWS
This news is still developing and we are monitoring it for you. In the days and weeks to come, we shall continue to monitor the situation and we will continue to update our readers with the latest developments. Please let us know what part of this news that is of interest to you. Let us know what you wish to know as things develop. Also, avail us with any information that is available to you that may help us better inform our readers. You can sign up to The Intel Palydom Newsletter to receive expert analysis on this news and things that matter to you.
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