"COVAX"

In a move to explain why Thailand did not join the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) alliance initially, Public Health Minister said the government had made the right decision.

Gavi announced in a press release that it had signed advance purchase agreements with Sinopharm for its "BBIBP-CorV" inactivated virus vaccine and with Sinovac for its inactivated virus vaccine "CoronaVac".

A string of nations across Africa, Asia and other regions have run out of Covid-19 vaccines or are on the brink of doing so, months after receiving first shipments from a global program meant to equitably distribute the lifesaving shots.

TOKYO -About US$2.4 billion (S$3.2 billion) and 54 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines were pledged by some 40 world and business leaders on Wednesday (June 2) to the Covax facility, which will give lower-income countries a better shot at protecting themselves.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clarified that Thailand has entered into an agreement on exchange of vaccines, which was different from joining the Covax Facility.

North Korea is reportedly refusing to cooperate with monitoring by the UN-backed vaccine-sharing program COVAX, which could further delay the supply of vaccines.

ABUJA, Nigeria - Ghana became the first country to receive a shipment of coronavirus vaccines from a global effort to equitably distribute doses after a plane landed Wednesday with 600,000 AstraZeneca shots.

The head of the World Health Organization, or WHO, has called on richer countries not to undermine the United Nations-led COVAX program, which supports a global equitable sharing of COVID-19 vaccines, and to ensure poorer countries do not miss out on available doses.

The White House is throwing its support behind a global push to distribute coronavirus vaccines equitably, pledging $4 billion dollars to a multilateral effort the Trump administration spurned.

The National Vaccine Institute (NVI) has explained that as Thailand is a middle-income country, it is not eligible to receive free vaccine from the Covax facility.

SINGAPORE - Some 145 to 150 million doses of coronavirus vaccines could be delivered in the first quarter of this year to countries in the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) scheme - the first milestone in the initiative's plan to secure nearly two billion doses by the end of the year.

Myanmar is due to get a Covid-19 vaccine only for 20 percent of its population in 2021 under the COVAX programme and all doses will not come at a one time, said the Union Minister for Health and Sports during the meeting (2/2020) of the COVAX National Coordinating Committee – CNCC on December 5.