COVAX scheme needs rules to prevent vaccine hoarding: WHO advisor NUSA DUA

COVAX needs a new set of rules in the long term to prevent the hoarding of vaccines by high income and vaccine-producing countries, a WHO senior advisor said

COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing network, needs a new set of rules in the long term to prevent the hoarding of vaccines by high income and vaccine-producing countries, a senior advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

COVAX, which is co-led by the WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), suffered as high-income countries used their purchasing power to steer the flow of vaccines, while manufacturing countries prioritised domestic distribution, said Bruce Aylward, Senior Advisor to the WHO Director General.

"You can't vaccinate one part of the world and then make low-income countries wait," he told media