UNICEF said $1bn more needed for COVAX vaccine rollout
17:30 27/09/24
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The United Nations’ children’s fund said on Wednesday that countries needed to contribute more money for COVAX's Covid-19 vaccine rollout to help those in need.
UNICEF said that $1bn more was needed to finance the program, reported Reuters.
The children’s fund is part of the World Health Organization-backed COVAX programme to supply shots to emerging economies who can’t afford to combat coronavirus on their own.
“We have been asking the world for more funding [...] for UNICEF and our distribution to countries we still need about $1 billion,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said at a virtual event organised by Dubai’s World Government Summit.
The COVAX initiative aims to deliver at least 2bn shots this year, including 1.3bn doses to lower income countries but it is unlikely to cover the whole world in 2021.