by Chen Junxia and Martina Fuchs
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland, May 6 (Xinhua) -- While the world still has to "walk the last mile" in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, Jose Manuel Barroso, chair of the Gavi vaccine alliance, warned that new variants and future pandemics could easily emerge if we fail to tackle complacency.
"The supply constraints are easing now and there is increasing confidence that we have enough vaccines. We now have to walk the last mile because some of the countries are still difficult to reach in terms of distribution," Barroso told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the 51st St. Gallen Symposium this week.
"That's why we're now putting our emphasis on actual delivery," he said, stressing that there is still a big inequity gap across the world.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, more than 11.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have so far been administered worldwide, as the global confirmed cases have reached 516 million with over 6.2 million deaths.
Despite progress in vaccine accessibility, Barroso expressed his concern that the risks of new variants and future outbreaks would linger on.
"We are seeing surges of COVID-19 in some parts of the world, the reality until now is that every four months on average there is a new variant," said Barroso.
"We have to be prudent," he continued. "I'm in touch of course with the best scientists in the world. What the scientists tell me is that we should avoid all forms of complacency."
Noting that new variants with higher transmissibility and severity will probably arise, Barroso said that Gavi is working with partners to build resilience in the international community in a bid to "face the next pandemic more successfully."
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases.
In April, the 2022 Break COVID Now Summit co-hosted by Gavi, alongside Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, and Senegal saw world leaders commit 4.8 billion U.S. dollars to help lower-income countries boost vaccinations.
Barroso hailed the event as a success, saying that it helped "to create and launch a pandemic vaccine pool to support future procurement of new COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of COVAX."
Co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and other partners, COVAX is the only global initiative working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available to both high-income and lower-income countries.
Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped vaccinate over 888 million children, averted more than 15 million future deaths and halved child mortality in 73 lower-income countries, according to its website.
Barroso said Gavi is also working on a project to reach zero-dose children who don't receive a single dose of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine.
"The goal is to reduce the number of zero-dose children by 25 percent by 2025, so very soon, and to reduce that number by 50 percent by 2030," he told Xinhua.
"It's the last mile but it's the most difficult one. It's like when you climb a mountain, the last meters are sometimes more difficult than the rest. But I'm confident we are going to reach that goal," Barroso added. ■
