On 2 July, the Luxembourg government decided to donate vaccines to the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility via the EU vaccine sharing mechanism. Covax was launched in April 2020 as a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to covid vaccines.
Initially, Luxembourg will donate 350,000 vaccines sourced from pharmaceutical companies Johnson&Johnson, AstraZeneca as well as mRNA vaccines to partner countries of Luxembourg cooperation. The exact distribution plan has yet to be determined. By the end of June, EU member states had shared more than 2.5 million doses of vaccines with non-member states through COVAX and the European Civil Protection Mechanism. The government says that vaccine inequality poses a very significant threat to control of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The international community must show solidarity to allow equitable access to vaccines, especially in vulnerable countries,” a government statement issued on Tuesday afternoon said. The WHO has called for a massive global effort to vaccinate at least 10% of each country’s population by September and at least 30% by the end of the year. Currently, a total of 14% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of vaccine. However, this percentage is unevenly distributed.
To put a definitive end to the pandemic before the emergence of new multi-resistant variants, it is imperative that 70 to 80% of the world’s population be immunised.