A partnership between the Serum Institute of India, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will work to deliver an additional 100 million doses of a prospective coronavirus vaccine to low- and middle-income countries in 2021, Gavi said Tuesday.
Gavi, an organization aiming to vaccinate children in low-income countries, said the initiative would result in 200 doses for the world’s poorest countries.
“No country, rich or poor, should be left at the back of the queue when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines; this collaboration brings us another step closer to achieving this goal,” said Gavi CEO Seth Berkley.
The collaboration will give upfront capital to Serum, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, to ensure its timeliness in meeting manufacturing needs. The vaccine will have a ceiling price of $3 per dose for 92 of the world’s indigent nations.
Seventy-five countries have formally committed to partially funding vaccine costs for poorer countries.
The collaboration comes in the wake of Monday’s grim milestone of one million coronavirus-related deaths globally, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.
