A committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the manufacturers of vaccines for the COVID-19 to provide him with the data he needs to put his vaccines on the emergency use list, saying the delays are affecting equitable access to vaccines.
Inclusion on the UN agency’s list for emergency use means vaccines can be shipped to multiple developing countries that rely on WHO guidance for their regulatory decisions. It also allows them to be used by the vaccine distribution program COVAX, which aims to boost immunity in the poorest countries.
“The Committee recognized the problems posed by the delay in submitting vaccine data to the WHO by some manufacturers,” its Emergency Committee said in a statement, urging vaccine producers to supply the data as soon as possible.
The statement, the result of a closed-door meeting last week, did not clarify which manufacturers had not yet submitted the data.
In a WHO document dated December 23, it was indicated that the Sputnik V vaccine, produced by the Gamaleya Institute, had presented incomplete data.
The Emergency Committee, made up of independent experts, meets every three months and makes recommendations on key issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, such as measures for international travel and vaccines for COVID-19.
It is also the WHO body that first declared COVID-19 a global health emergency, or “PHEIC” (Public Health Emergency of International Concern) nearly two years ago. Its members unanimously agreed last week to maintain the current state of emergency.
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