What is it?

• The COVAX facility seeks to accelerate the development and production of coronavirus vaccines through pooling in resources from the member countries, and then ensure that it is equitably distributed amongst them.
• COVAX is led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
• COVAX supports research and development of new vaccines by investing in them and negotiating prices with pharmaceutical companies. The goal of COVAX is to have 2 billion doses to distribute by the end of 2021, which should be enough to help countries vaccinate 20% of their populations and end the acute phase of the pandemic.

Why in News?

• The COVAX initiative has announced that Bangladesh will receive 12.79 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine by June this year. 
• The vaccine is being provided to countries in proportion to their population. Apart from Bangladesh, in South Asia, India will get 97.2 million, Pakistan 17.2 million, Nepal 2.2 million, Sri Lanka 1.6 million, and Bhutan and Maldives 1.08 lakh doses of vaccine each.
• COVAX will distribute 337.2 million doses of the vaccine all over the world. The first deliveries are expected to begin in early February. The COVAX aims to reach at least 3 per cent of population coverage in all countries in the first half of the year to protect the most vulnerable groups such as health care workers.

Related information

About CEPI

• The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organisations to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
• It was launched in Davos in 2017.

About GAVI Alliance 

• The GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) is a global health partnership of public and private sector organizations dedicated towards creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.
• GAVI’s strategy supports its mission to save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries. 
• Its partners provide funding for vaccines and intellectual resources for care advancement. They contribute, also, to strengthening the capacity of the health system to deliver immunisation and other health services in a sustainable manner.