US sign-up for Covax a ‘shot in the arm’ for WHO vaccine scheme

White House decision is a show of confidence at a critical moment for the distribution plan, analysts say

But the United States also needs to ‘get its own house in order’ in the midst of the health crisis

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Vaccine roll-outs are starting worldwide while Covax has yet to begin delivering its promised doses. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:30pm, 22 Jan 2021Updated: 11:50pm, 22 Jan 2021

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had a stark warning at the agency’s annual board meeting in Geneva this week: the promise of fair access to Covid-19 vaccines was at serious risk.

In peril, he said, was the WHO-backed Covax facility – a plan nine months in the making to ensure that those at most risk have access to coronavirus vaccines at the same time, no matter where they live.

The programme was being undermined by side deals between wealthier countries and vaccines makers, he said.

Four days later, Tedros celebrated news that he said would bring Covax “one step closer” to its goal: a pledge from the United States to reverse course and join the programme.

The support of the US – historically the biggest donor to global health, but absent from Covax after former president Donald Trump broke with the World Health Organization – is a major vote of confidence in the facility, according to analysts.

The move, part of a raft of decisions by US President Joe Biden in his first days in office, comes as vaccine roll-outs are starting worldwide – though Covax has yet to begin delivering its promised doses.