The Diplomat
Spain has launched the donation of 7.5 million vaccines to Latin American and Caribbean countries through the COVAX mechanism, in fulfillment of the commitment announced by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, during the recent Ibero-American Summit in Andorra.
Following the agreement reached between AstraZeneca, COVAX and Spain, the first donations will amount to more than 750,000 doses and will be destined for Paraguay, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador and Nicaragua, according to a press release issued yesterday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Spanish Government has committed a total of 22.5 million of the vaccines authorized in the European Union and used in Spain, of which at least 7.5 million will be destined to Latin American countries. The donations will be channeled through COVAX – a mechanism coordinated by the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) – with logistical support from UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The distribution of the doses destined for Latin America and the Caribbean will be carried out according to the epidemiological needs of the different countries in the region and the coordination of actions of the different actors involved by COVAX. The distribution will be progressive, as Spain makes the vaccines available to the mechanism. The first recipient countries are: Paraguay, which will receive 252,000 doses; Guatemala, 201,600; Ecuador and Peru, 101,760, respectively; and Nicaragua, 97,920. The shipments will materialize in the next few days.
In addition, Spain is currently processing contributions to the Accelerator of Access to Tools against COVID-19 (ACT-A) for 125 million euros, to which will be added an additional contribution of 50 million euros to COVAX through GAVI.
All this is part of the Universal Access Plan: Sharing vaccines against COVID-19. Solidarity Vaccination, approved by the Spanish Executive last January, and which defines the donation strategy. “The main objective of this plan is to contribute to guarantee fair, affordable and universal access to the vaccine as a global public good, in order to respond to the Spanish society’s call for solidarity,” the Ministry stated.
Spain coordinates the donation of the vaccines with the EU and its Member States, which have so far contributed 2.47 billion euros to COVAX. The aim of the mechanism is to immunize at least 20% of the population of the 190 member nations before the end of the year.
