GENEVA,  22 September 2020, (Washington Post): The World Health Organization provided details about the vaccine, its development and distribution. It urged more wealthy countries to join its vaccine agreement

As per the details, more than 150 countries, representing 64 percent of the world’s population, have agreed to participate in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility or Covax, which aims to develop and distribute $2 billion in doses of a vaccine by the end of next year.

Still, a total of 156 countries have committed to joining the effort, which hopes to purchase 2 billion doses of vaccine by the end of 2021. Of participating countries, 64 are higher-income nations, whose participation is critical to ensuring the financial feasibility of the effort.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, “Working together through the COVAX Facility is not charity, it’s in every country’s own best interests to control the pandemic and accelerate the global economic recovery.”

Tedros said the effort is at a critical point, with only $3 billion committed so far. Another $15 billion is needed immediately to ensure momentum continues.

The European Commission, representing 27 countries, along with the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Japan are among the countries supporting the pool.

Gavi CEO Seth Berkley said another 38 countries are in discussions with the COVAX Facility and may yet join the vaccine pool.

Later, as more vaccine becomes available, countries will receive enough supply to vaccinate a larger proportion of their populations. During the second phase, doses may be allocated with an eye to helping countries where transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is most active.