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1 1 (August 5, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveegn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Global COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Updated August 5,2021 Background The Coronavirus Disease2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to severe health and economic consequences across the globe, as governments workto contain the spread of the virus and its variants. In late 2020, researchers started identifying several COVID-19 variants, now driving surges in related cases and deaths across Africa and south Asia. The United States, India, and Brazil have the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, many causedby the Delta variant. Vaccines and other countermeasures play a growing role in COVID-19 control. However, insufficient access to vaccines in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) raises questions about how inequities may hinder pandemic control worldwide. Congress appropriated approximately $15 billion for a range ofCOVID-19-related responses through supplemental appropriations (P.L. 116-123, P.L. 116-136, P.L. 116-260, and P.L. 117-2), including $4 billion for multilateral COVID-19 vaccine efforts. The Biden Administration has announced that the United States will provide over 500 million vaccine doses worldwide through direct donations and contributions via COVAX-a multilateral effort comprising nearly 200 countries, co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness andInnovation (CEPI), and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. On May 31, 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group, WHO, and the World Trade Organization (W TO) established the Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnos tics for Developing Countries (the Task Force). The TaskForce is seeking an additional $50 billion in support of COVAX and the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), so that at least 40% of all people worldwide could be vaccinated by theend of2021. Global COVID- 19 Vaccine Distribution In April2020, WHO and partners launched ACT-A to advance the development, production, and distribution of COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Within less than a year, multiple safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines had been developed. To date, severalcountries and WHO have approved eight COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, including those made in China. WHO has not authorized emergency use for vaccines produced in Rus sia, though some countries that do nothave sufficient acces s to authorized vaccines have used them. More than 200 other COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in clinical trials. Numerous therapeutics are also in development. Althoughmanufacturers expect to produce about 11 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of 2021, many experts assert that at current vaccine dis tributionrates, COVID-19 vaccines will not be widely available in LMICs until at least 2022. The vast majority ofmanufacturedCOVID-19 v accine doses have been distributed in high -income countries (Figure 1). Figure I. Global Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines (millions of doses, as of July 28, 2021) 3,000 1 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 Soo U per middle :ame 0 om- an Feb M'ar' Apr Ma1y Jua j'-l Source: Adapted by CRS from United Nations Development Program (UN DP), Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity, accessed on August 2,2021. Advances. By the end of July, donors had pledged $15 billion for COVAX, which had shippedmore than 153 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 137 countries worldwide. On June 11, the Group of7 (G7) nations, at its 2021 annual meeting, committed to donate 870 million additionalvaccine doses to COVAXby the end of 2022. G20 governments have also pledged $22billion toward COVAX and ACT-A. As of June 23, 2021, the United States was the largest donor to COVAX, having pledged $3.5 billion. Other key donors include Germany ($1 billion), the United Kingdom($1.05 billion), Japan ($376 million), Canada ($360 million), Saudi Arabia, ($300 million), and the Gates Foundation ($246 million). Challenges. WHO and partners have decried the sluggish delivery of pledged vaccines and estimated that byJuly 31, 2021, less than 5% of vaccines that were pre-purchasedby or for LMICs had been delivered. Many LMICs are expecting large donations via COVAX during the second half of 2022, but questions remain about their ability to rapidly distribute the vaccines, particularly in remote settings. The World Bankestimates an additional $35 billion in grants is needed to fund the Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics for Developing Countries, and to rapidly scale up vaccine production and delivery in LMICs by 2022. Global Vaccine Access Insufficient vaccine supply, coupled with uneven capacity to pay for and disseminate the vaccines, has led to global https://crs reports.congress.g