WHO warns that $35B is needed to produce 2B doses of vaccines

Tedros Adhanom, the World Health Organization (WHO) general director, warned that the global initiative to accelerate the end of the COVID-19 pandemic needs 35,000 million dollars. The money will be required to develop new tools and produce and administer 2 billion doses of vaccines, 245 million treatments, and 500 million diagnostic tests over the next year.

As he has mentioned, investing in the ACT-Accelerator, global Collaboration to Accelerate the Development, increases the probability of accessing the winning candidate. It also prevents countries that have already signed individual bilateral agreements from ending up with products that are not viable. 

Payoffs in less than 36 hours 

According to WHO, full ACT-Accelerator funding will help shorten the crisis’s duration. Moreover, it will aid in returning this investment in less than 36 hours. Particularly, once mobility and global trade see a revival. 

This tool represents an unprecedented effort. In fact, $35,000 million is a lot of money. Still, in the context of stopping the global pandemic, it is a bargain. Tedros Adhanom mentioned that this money represents less than one percent of what the G20 governments have invested in national stimulus packages. Furthermore, it is equivalent to what the world spends on cigarettes every two weeks.

In just five months, the WHO reported that the ‘ACT-Accelerator’ has managed to evaluate more than 50 diagnostic tests. Additionally, it analyzed more than 1,700 clinical trials for promising treatments. Moreover, it secured dexamethasone for up to 4.5 million patients in low-income countries.

Likewise, Adhanom has reported that the COVAX vaccine facility, the most extensive and most varied portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, currently contains nine candidate vaccines and a total of 156 economies. It represents almost two-thirds of the world population.

Adhanom mentioned that they are taking all the measures simultaneously. So, that it reaches all people when the product is available. He asks everyone to invest in global recovery to act together to end covid-19.