Covax has slashed its forecasts for coronavirus vaccine deliveries to the developing world by about 25 per cent this year, after India’s export ban, manufacturing problems and delays in approvals of new shots knocked the programme off track.
Deliveries under the scheme to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries are ramping up, with 1.1bn doses set to be available for the rest of the year. But Covax will fall short of its target of delivering 2bn vaccines this year, with a total of 1.4bn shots.
Soumya Swaminathan, chief medical officer of the World Health Organization, which backs Covax, said there are still about 10,000 deaths a day from Covid-19, which she called “entirely preventable”, if vaccines were shared more equally.