The Diplomat
The Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Ángeles Moreno, yesterday presented the Universal Access Plan for vaccines against COVID-19, during the first meeting of the Coordination Committee for the Solidarity Vaccination Plan, held online.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Presidency of the Government, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health and Science and Innovation, the AECID, the AEMPS, several Autonomous Communities, the NGDO Coordinating Committee and ISGlobal.
Ángeles Moreno explained that the aim is to achieve rapid access to the vaccine for the countries and people with the greatest difficulties, “without detriment to the vaccination process for the Spanish population as a whole”, according to a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She indicated that the principles that will guide the development of the Plan are equitable, universal and affordable access, as vaccination is a global public good, as well as solidarity, an integrated approach, multilateralism and the strengthening of health systems.
The Secretary of State underlined that the priority groups of the Solidarity Vaccination Plan are refugees, displaced persons and asylum seekers, especially in humanitarian contexts. She also referred to the least developed countries and Spanish Cooperation partner countries where access is not guaranteed to the 20 percent of their population defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a priority, which includes the vulnerable population and health workers.
Spain is currently promoting a mechanism within the European Union aimed at sharing part of the vaccines with third countries on the basis of common principles, according to the note.
As for distribution channels, Angeles Moreno said the main channel should be the multilateral COVAX initiative, which “is proving to be an effective mechanism”. For humanitarian contexts, it is also envisaged that the specialised agencies OCHA and ECHO of the United Nations and the European Union respectively, without ruling out other regional and multilateral organisations, could be used.
Angeles Moreno called for “a basis of common principles” and joint decisions in the European Union, which is the main financial contributor to COVAX and which has doubled its contributions to the Donor Facility to 1 billion euros. Spain announced last year a contribution to COVAX of 125 million euros through contributions to the leading organisations in this pillar: the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI).
COVAX’s goal is to reach 2 billion doses by the end of 2021, the minimum number considered for healthcare workers and the most vulnerable people in all countries of the world. COVAX currently has about 1.27 billion doses insured, with the possibility of reaching 1.97 billion.
