TikTok and the Gates Foundation have revealed that they both donated $10 million USD (about $13.9 million CAD) each to vaccine alliance Gavi to help tackle Africa’s COVID-19 pandemic situation.
The funds will help distribute and deploy COVID-19 vaccines once they’re developed, trialled and licensed.
“It would also help prevent a potentially catastrophic impact on immunization programmes across the developing world,” Gavi chief executive Seth Berkley said in a statement.
While speaking to Reuters last week, Berkley says the number of potential COVID-19 vaccines in the early stages of development around the world is encouraging. He adds that the number will decrease as some vaccines have failed while others are progressing.
“Today there are 76 vaccines on WHO website listed, of which six are already in clinical trials, but actually the number is substantially higher than that, it is well over 100,” Berkley says.
“The challenge is going to be now… is to have some standardized criteria that one can narrow it down to a smaller number. And what is going to be important is being able to make those choices based on science and not politics.”
This month, Gavi is planning to support health systems in 13 lower-income countries to fight COVID-19 with $29 million USD (about $4o million CAD) payout.
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