Pfizer set to be top vaccine supplier for poor nations
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BRUSSELS • Pfizer and BioNtech are set to displace AstraZeneca as the main suppliers of Covid-19 vaccines to the global Covax programme next year, a shift that shows the increasing importance of their shot for poorer states.
The change comes with headaches for receiving countries that lack cold storage capacity to handle the Pfizer vaccine and a shortage of syringes.
AstraZeneca is currently Covax's most distributed vaccine, according to data from Gavi, the vaccine alliance that co-manages the programme with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The programme has so far delivered more than 600 million shots to nearly 150 countries, of which over 220 million are AstraZeneca's and 160 million Pfizer's.
But in the first quarter of next year, Pfizer is set to take over. By end-March, another 150 million Pfizer doses are to be distributed by Covax, a WHO document shows.
A spokesman for Gavi confirmed that Pfizer is far ahead in terms of "allocated" jabs, with about 470 million doses delivered or readied for delivery, against 350 million from AstraZeneca.
Pfizer is the first provider of Covid-19 vaccines to the European Union, the United States and Japan. But AstraZeneca has been seen as a crucial supplier to less developed countries as its shot is cheaper and easier to deliver.
Covax bet heavily on it at first, but supply problems and export restrictions from top producer India reduced its reliance on the shot.
Donations from rich nations subsequently became more important, turning Pfizer into Covax's main supplier.
The change forced Gavi to rush to invest more in cold chain capacity in receiving countries that do not have enough refrigerators and cold transport equipment to handle the Pfizer shot, which requires lower storage temperatures than the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The organisation has warned about insufficient cold chain capacity in some countries, according to an internal Gavi report this month.
The problem is compounded by a risk of shortages of special syringes needed to administer the Pfizer vaccine, Gavi warned.
It also said that the Pfizer jab is "the hardest to plan for as these (donated vaccines) often come with... little notice or in a staggered manner and in small volumes and with short shelf lives".
Wealthy countries donating Covid-19 vaccines with a relatively short shelf life has been a "major problem" for Covax, a WHO official said last week, as many doses were wasted.
REUTERS
