DUBAI: Moderna said on Friday it would supply an additional 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the Gavi vaccine alliance for distribution through the COVAX facility in the second quarter of 2022.
With the additional doses, a total of up to 136.5 million doses would be supplied to Gavi, Moderna said.
The COVAX initiative is co-led by Gavi, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
Moderna also said it would speed up supply of 20 million doses to COVAX to make 54 million doses available to the vaccine-sharing scheme by the end of 2021.
These doses were a part of Moderna’s previous agreement with Gavi and were originally scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2022, the company said.
The Gavi vaccine alliance retains options that allow it to purchase up to 650 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine for delivery through 2022, Moderna said.
Moderna to supply 20 mln more COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX
https://arab.news/2y2bw
Moderna to supply 20 mln more COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX
- A total of up to 136.5 million doses would be supplied to Gavi, Moderna said
- Moderna also said it would speed up supply of 20 million doses to COVAX
26 Doctors without Borders workers remain unaccounted for in South Sudan a month after attacks
- A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said
- “We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity”
NAIROBI: More than two dozen Doctors Without Borders workers remain unaccounted for a month after attacks in South Sudan, the medical charity said.
Two facilities belonging to the group, known by French acronym MSF, were attacked on Feb. 3 in Jonglei State, northeast of the capital, Juba, where violence has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December.
A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said, while another medical facility in the town of Pieri was raided by “unknown assailants.” Both were located in opposition-held areas.
Staff working at the two facilities fled alongside much of the local population into deeply rural areas where armed clashes and aerial bombardments were ongoing.
MSF said in a statement on Monday that “26 of 291 of our colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for.
“We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity,” it said.
The lack of communication with its staff could be linked to the limited network connectivity in much of the state. Staff members who had been contacted described “destruction, violence and extreme hardships.”
Fighting escalated sharply in December, when opposition forces captured a string of government outposts in north central Jonglei. In January, the government responded with a counteroffensive that recaptured most of the area it had lost.
Displaced people in Akobo, an opposition-held town near the Ethiopian border, described horrific violence by government fighters. Many described not being able to find food or water as they walked for days to reach safety.
The attacks on MSF facilities in Lankien and Pieri are part of an uptick in violence on humanitarian staff, supplies and infrastructure, aid groups say. MSF facilities have been attacked 10 times in the last 12 months.
“This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on health care services, but on the very people who kept them running,” said Yashovardhan, MSF head of mission in South Sudan, who only uses one name.
“Medical workers must never be targets,” he said. “We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve.”
