Vaccines, Immunisation

WeConnectToProtect

dlegge — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 23:59:31 +0000

WeConnectToProtect

05 December 2024

dlegge Thu, 05/12/2024 - 10:59

Author/s

DCVMNI

WeConnectToProtect

Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network International

Keywords

Vaccines, Immunisation

Production (of healthcare products)

Update on the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme

dlegge — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 23:32:36 +0000

Update on the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme

11 October 2024

dlegge Thu, 05/12/2024 - 10:32

Author/s

World Health Organization

Medicines Patent Pool

HPW

Update on the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme

A recent article published by HPW based on research by Matthew Herder and Ximena Benavides made several criticisms and observations about the mRNA programme. HPW asked the mRNA co-leaders, the MPP and WHO, to respond to the issues raised and this is their response.

The mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), was launched in July 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to address the global inequities in vaccine manufacturing. Its primary aim is to build mRNA vaccine manufacturing capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), thus bolstering health security through local and regional production.

WHO’s mRNA Vaccine Hub Faces ‘Uncertainty and Structural Weaknesses’

dlegge — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 23:28:25 +0000

WHO’s mRNA Vaccine Hub Faces ‘Uncertainty and Structural Weaknesses’

30 September 2024

dlegge Thu, 05/12/2024 - 10:28

Author/s

Kerry Cullinan

HPW

WHO’s mRNA Vaccine Hub Faces ‘Uncertainty and Structural Weaknesses’

The establishment of an “mRNA hub” in South Africa to build the capacity of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to develop vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic was widely hailed as a solution to Africa’s lack of manufacturing ability.

But three years after its launch in June 2021, the hub faces uncertainties, risks and shortfalls – including that it may simply become a “technological solution” that maintains the status quo rather than a genuine transfer of knowledge and capacity to LMICs, according to a recent report

Authors Professor Matthew Herder, chair in Applied Public Health at Dalhousie University in Canada and Ximena Benavides from Yale University in the US, base their observations on interviews with 35 key players and numerous documents, some of which were obtained via an access to information request to the Canadian government.

Documents reveal how Pfizer and Moderna ‘profiteered’ in Covid-19 vaccine negotiations

dlegge — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 06:22:08 +0000

Documents reveal how Pfizer and Moderna ‘profiteered’ in Covid-19 vaccine negotiations

21 May 2024

dlegge Sat, 08/06/2024 - 16:22

Author/s

Estelle Ellis

Daily Maverick

Documents reveal how Pfizer and Moderna ‘profiteered’ in Covid-19 vaccine negot…

Analysts studying the contracts South Africa concluded for the Pfizer vaccine and negotiations with Moderna for the Spikevax vaccine have found many instances of corporate bullying and draconian and one-sided contracts — but also of South African officials standing up and demanding more transparency, the Health Justice Institute said on Tuesday.

Keywords

Covid

Vaccines, Immunisation

A2M (Access to health technologies)

Moderna’s Outsized Price Ask for COVID Vaccines in South Africa Highlights Need to ‘Rein in Corporates’ in Pandemics

dlegge — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 06:18:22 +0000

Moderna’s Outsized Price Ask for COVID Vaccines in South Africa Highlights Need to ‘Rein in Corporates’ in Pandemics

22 May 2024

dlegge Sat, 08/06/2024 - 16:18

Author/s

Kerry Cullinan

HPW

Moderna’s Outsized Price Ask for COVID Vaccines in South Africa Highlights Need…

CAPE TOWN – Moderna tried to extract a huge price for its COVID-19 vaccine from the South African government at the height of the pandemic, according to the local NGO, Health Justice Initiative (HJI), in revelations made public this week.

The US-based pharma company wanted to charge $42 per vaccine in mid-2021 when vaccines were scarce, reducing this to $32.30 in the third quarter and $28.50 by the fourth quarter.

In comparison, Pfizer offered its vaccines for $10 per dose over the same period – which, although less than a quarter of Moderna’s ask, was still higher than the price paid by the European Union.

Moderna also expected South Africa to pay to transport the vaccine from its European offices, and demanded broad indemnification clauses and a 15-year confidentiality agreement, according to HJI.

Ultimately, South Africa did not procure vaccines from Moderna.

HJI resorted to the High Court in South Africa to get the correspondence between its government and drug companies during the pandemic, and released a second round of analysis of the documents this week, following a previous analysis in September 2023.

HJI director Fatima Hassan said that their analysis of the negotiation documents, done with the help of the nonprofit consumer advocacy organisation Public Citizen, “reveals a pattern of bullying and attempts to extract one-sided terms, especially by pharma giants Moderna and Pfizer all while they profiteered from a global health emergency”.

Keywords

A2M (Access to health technologies)

Covid

Vaccines, Immunisation

Gavi Needs Urgent Reform to Ensure its Continued Impact

dlegge — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 05:37:15 +0000

Gavi Needs Urgent Reform to Ensure its Continued Impact

04 June 2024

dlegge Sat, 08/06/2024 - 15:37

Author/s

Janeen Madan Keller & Orin Levine

HPW

Gavi Needs Urgent Reform to Ensure its Continued Impact

With the first-ever malaria vaccines rolling out across Africa and a next-generation tuberculosis (TB) vaccine in testing, scientific advances are driving an unparalleled expansion of vaccine development. But vaccines in development don’t become immunizations that protect our health without concerted efforts by global initiatives like Gavi, the vaccine alliance, that help bring these life-saving products to the world’s poorest countries.

Next month, Gavi will kick-off a campaign to raise several billion dollars to deliver on its new strategy. The stakes are high: falling short of its target could delay delivery of vaccines to those most in need.

But amidst a rapidly changing global landscape, Gavi’s leadership and board must look inwards and seize the opportunity to reform by adjusting its operational model, addressing how it delivers vaccines in humanitarian and conflict settings, sustaining the impact of its investments, and aligning with other global health initiatives to respond to country priorities.

By Gavi’s own count, it has helped immunize more than a billion children since its launch in 2000. But underlying this remarkable impact is a stark reality: millions of women and children continue to miss out on vaccines. Perhaps most staggering is the fact that close to 15 million children around the world still do not receive basic childhood vaccines, leaving the poorest and most vulnerable susceptible to preventable diseases.

Significant gaps in accessing newer vaccines also exist. Only 20% of girls worldwide have received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects against the leading cause of cervical cancer.

As Gavi’s leadership and board finalize a new strategy that will cement its priorities over the next five years, we urge attention to three areas to ensure that every child, everywhere, has access to vaccines.

Rethink criteria for selecting countries

First, Gavi should update how it deems which countries receive support. Since its early days, Gavi has channeled financial support for immunization, based on national income per capita, to the poorest countries that also showed the biggest gaps in immunization access. The model is simple: if national income per capita is below the eligibility line, a country can receive full Gavi support; if it is above the line, then no support is given. But almost 25 years later, it’s time to refine how this works.

As a growing number of countries face economic headwinds and stagnating vaccination rates in the post-COVID era, Gavi needs to better match support with a country’s ability to pay for vaccines. And as new vaccines – including for TB – become available, Gavi’s model needs to align with the burden of leading infectious killers.

As one case in point: four of the highest TB burden countries – India, Indonesia, China, and the Philippines – are no longer or were never eligible for Gavi support. But ironically, they are eligible for financial support for TB diagnosis and treatment from Gavi’s sister organization, The Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria. This policy mismatch could limit the impact of a new vaccine against a major infectious killer.

Invest more in vaccine delivery innovation

Second, Gavi should play a bigger role in scaling innovations to address the barriers that deter vaccine delivery. COVID-19 laid bare just how critical health systems infrastructure is to stopping disease outbreaks in their tracks. It also proved how useful innovations like digital immunization records can be in boosting vaccine uptake.

With dedicated resources, Gavi can support partner countries to scale proven innovations for immunization systems they want and need. This could include solar panels for electrification of health clinics, unmanned drones for vaccine delivery, and digital immunization records.

While each of these innovations has been proven to work, Gavi’s investments would fill a critical gap in providing financing to scale, thereby leveraging at-risk early funding by other partners. Gavi’s track record in innovation, including financing mechanisms to scale new vaccine introductions, makes it well placed to do so.

Pilot new financing to ensure country control

Lastly, Gavi should pilot new ways to channel financing to partner countries that puts them in the driver’s seat and respond to national priorities. This is especially timely amidst growing calls to shift the center of gravity for decision-making to countries.

How can this be achieved? One idea is for Gavi to test a new approach that provides a consolidated envelope of resources to each country, scaled to specific criteria including population size.

One portion could be dedicated to vaccine purchasing, enabling countries to base decisions on their own priorities. The second portion could be carved out for technical support and grants for health systems strengthening. With the 2030 deadline of the Sustainable Development Goals in sight, now is the time to experiment.

Our collective ability to end the scourge of vaccine-preventable diseases is within reach. And Gavi – provided it is able to reform – remains one of our best bets to get there. At this crucial juncture, its leadership, board, and donors must ensure that Gavi has a fit-for-purpose model with adequate resources to deliver on the unfinished immunization agenda in a shifting global landscape.

Keywords

GAVI

Vaccines, Immunisation

Number of lives saved by vaccinations from 1974 to 2024, World

dlegge — Sat, 11 May 2024 01:28:15 +0000

Number of lives saved by vaccinations from 1974 to 2024, World

10 May 2024

dlegge Sat, 11/05/2024 - 11:28

Author/s

Our World in Data

Number of lives saved by vaccinations from 1974 to 2024, World

Vaccines have saved 150 million children over the last 50 years

Keywords

Vaccines, Immunisation

WHO: Bureau’s text suggestion for “pre-qualification” raises concerns of vaccine supply concentration

dlegge — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 22:39:00 +0000

WHO: Bureau’s text suggestion for “pre-qualification” raises concerns of vaccine supply concentration

12 February 2024

dlegge Sun, 18/02/2024 - 09:39

Author/s

K M Gopakumar and Nithin Ramakrishnan

TWN

WHO: Bureau’s text suggestion for “pre-qualification” raises concerns of vaccin…

Text has been proposed by the Bureau of the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations 2005 (WGIHR) that seeks to make WHO prequalified vaccines as a compulsory requirement for the issuance of vaccine or prophylaxis certificates, raising concerns of vaccine supply concentration.

This took place at the recent 7^th meeting of the WGIHR held from 5 to 9 February 2024.

Vaccine certificates are used as evidence of vaccination to facilitate international travel. Article 36 of the IHR states that travellers in possession of a vaccine certificate should not be denied entry unless the competent authority has verifiable indications and/or evidence that the vaccination or other prophylaxis was not effective.

However, Article 36 obligates State Parties to issue vaccine certificates as per the conditions mentioned in Annex 6 and Annex 7. Annex 6 sets out the general conditions and model certificates for vaccination/prophylaxis certificates. Annex 7 sets out the conditions and model certificates for vaccination/prophylaxis certificates for specific disease. Currently Annex 7 lists only yellow fever vaccines.

The contentious proposal is to amend Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Annex 6. These paragraphs currently states that only those vaccines or prophylaxis designated or approved by WHO should be used.

Keywords

IHRs (International health regulations)

Vaccines, Immunisation

Emergencies

Global inequities in access to COVID-19 health products and technologies: A political economy analysis

dlegge — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:54:58 +0000

Global inequities in access to COVID-19 health products and technologies: A political economy analysis

01 September 2023

dlegge Thu, 03/08/2023 - 10:54

Health and Place

Global inequities in access to COVID-19 health products and technologies: A pol…

This paper presents a political economy analysis of global inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests. We adapt a conceptual model used for analysing the political economy of global extraction and health to examine the politico-economic factors affecting access to COVID-19 health products and technologies in four interconnected layers: the social, political, and historical context; politics, institutions, and policies; pathways to ill-health; and health consequences. Our analysis finds that battles over access to COVID-19 products occur in a profoundly unequal playing field, and that efforts to improve access that do not shift the fundamental power imbalances are bound to fail. Inequitable access has both direct effects on health (preventable illness and death) and indirect effects through exacerbation of poverty and inequality. We highlight how the case of COVID-19 products reflects broader patterns of structural violence, in which the political economy is structured to improve and lengthen the lives of those in the Global North while neglecting and shortening the lives of those in the Global South. We conclude that achieving equitable access to pandemic response products requires shifting longstanding power imbalances and the institutions and processes that entrench and enable them.

Keywords

Vaccines, Immunisation

A2M (Access to health technologies)

Opportunities and challenges of leveraging COVID-19 vaccine innovation and technologies for developing sustainable vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa

dlegge — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:03:38 +0000

Opportunities and challenges of leveraging COVID-19 vaccine innovation and technologies for developing sustainable vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa

05 June 2023

dlegge Thu, 03/08/2023 - 10:03

Lancet

Opportunities and challenges of leveraging COVID-19 vaccine innovation and tech…

The COVID-19 pandemic heralded unprecedented resource mobilisation and global scientific collaboration to rapidly develop effective vaccines. Regrettably, vaccine distribution has been inequitable, particularly in Africa where manufacturing capacity remains nominal. To address this, several initiatives are underway to develop and manufacture COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. Nevertheless, diminishing demand for COVID-19 vaccines, the cost competitiveness of producing goods locally, intellectual property rights issues, and complex regulatory environments among other challenges can undermine these ventures. We outline how extending COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in Africa to include diverse products, multiple vaccine platforms, and advanced delivery systems will ensure sustainability. Possible models, including leveraging public–academic–private partnerships to enhance success of vaccine manufacturing capacity in Africa are also discussed. Intensifying research in vaccine discovery on the continent could yield vaccines that further bolster sustainability of local production, ensuring greater pandemic preparedness in resource-constrained environments, and long-term health systems security.

Keywords

Vaccines, Immunisation

R&D for Health Products

PPPR (Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response)