Global anti-COVID program needs $22.9 billion in 2021, WHO says

GENEVA, February 20. /TASS/. The international partnership initiated by the WHO in April to expand access to tools of fighting the coronavirus, named the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator), requires $22.9 billion to fund its work in 2021, the World Health Organization said (WHO). In a statement, the WHO welcomed over $4.3 billion of new investments from the United States, Germany, the European Commission, Japan, and Canada to fund the development and equitable rollout of the tests, treatments and vaccines needed to end the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those commitments bring the amount committed to date to $10.3 billion, leaving a funding gap of $22.9 billion to fully fund the ACT Accelerator’s work in 2021. "The next few weeks will be critical for the global COVID-19 response. Further commitments are needed to fully fund the work of the ACT Accelerator and enable the delivery of more than 2 billion doses of vaccine; medical oxygen and millions of treatment doses including dexamethasone and new products, as and when they become available; and over 900 million diagnostic tests including high-quality, lower-cost molecular tests, antigen detection RDTs (Ag-RDTs) and self-tests," the global organization said in a statement. The international partnership named the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, or ACT-Accelerator, was officially launched on April 24 by the WHO, the EU, France, and philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates. As the WHO explained, the new initiative "is a unique partnership of many of the world’s international health organizations who have come together to share, and build on, individual expertise to create a powerful global solution that will ensure equity in access to tests, vaccines, treatments across the world with one goal: to reduce the burden of the COVID-19." The WHO also attaches great importance to the COVAX mechanism, which involves 190 countries and economies. It is one of the pillars of ACT-Accelerator. In accordance with the program’s terms, countries with high levels of incomes pay for the vaccines, thus subsidizing the funded states. According to the existing estimates, two billion doses of the vaccine are to be produced and evenly distributed around the world by the end of 2021. Read more