COVAX

This page is no longer updated. Please see COVID-19 vaccines

COVAX was a historic multilateral effort co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF from 2020 through 2023. During the COVID-19 pandemic, COVAX aimed to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. COVAX came to a close on 31 December 2023.

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No one is safe, until everyone is safe

COVAX was the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. The ACT Accelerator is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

COVAX was co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside key delivery partner UNICEF. In the Americas, the PAHO Revolving Fund was the recognized procurement agent for COVAX. It aimed to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.

WHO had multiple roles within COVAX: It provided normative guidance on vaccine policy, regulation, safety, R&D, allocation, and country readiness and delivery.

WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization developed evidence-based immunization policy recommendations. Its Emergency Use Listing (EUL) / prequalification programmes ensured harmonized review and authorization across member states.

WHO provided global coordination and member state support on vaccine safety monitoring. It developed the target product profiles for COVID-19 vaccines and provided R&D technical coordination.

On behalf of the COVAX Partners, WHO developed a No-Fault Compensation Program to reduce the financial and liability exposure of the AMC92 and humanitarian agencies operating in the AMC92 and to facilitate access to compensation for eligible injured individuals.

WHO also led, together with UNICEF, the Country Readiness and Delivery workstream, which provided support to countries as they prepared to receive and administer vaccines.

Recognizing the urgency of turning vaccine doses into vaccinated, protected communities, WHO, UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance launched the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery Partnership (CoVDP). The CoVDP built on existing resources to support the AMC 92 and focused foremost on the 34 countries that were at or below 10% coverage in January 2022. Working closely with countries to understand bottlenecks to vaccination, the CoVDP offered access to urgent operational funding, technical assistance and political engagement to rapidly scale up vaccination and monitor progress towards targets.

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