Dubai: DP World and UNICEF have announced a partnership to support the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and related immunisation supplies in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
The new multi-million-dollar partnership is the largest established to date to support UNICEF’s leading role in procuring and supplying two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines and auxiliary vaccination supplies on behalf of the COVAX Facility, the global pooled procurement mechanism aimed at ensuring fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide. DP World and UNICEF will also collaborate on other global programmes in support of education, health, women’s empowerment and water and sanitation.
More than 12 billion vaccine doses have been announced by all manufacturers for release in 2021 – in case all vaccine candidates succeed in clinical trials.
The first wave of vaccines for the 92 low- to middle-income COVAX countries represents two to three times UNICEF’s yearly routine vaccination program.
The magnitude of the task requires bold collective action from multinational organizations, governments and industries.
In a year that has seen a pandemic that has left few unaffected, where consequences resulting from attempts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus has seen the lives and livelihoods for millions across the globe impacted, the most dire impacts cannot be over stated. In the worst cases, impacts on the livelihoods of those most vulnerable has led to rising poverty levels, with Oxfam reporting that up to 12,000 people per day are facing starvation in 2020.