First wave of COVID-19 vaccine syringes now bound to Maldives
The critical task of ensuring that all countries have enough medical equipment to vaccinate people safely against COVID-19 gathered pace on Tuesday, with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announcing that 100,000 syringes have been sent to the Maldives, ahead of an inoculation drive there.
The shipment is part of “the first wave” of syringes and safety boxes organised by the agency, which over the next few weeks, plans to dispatch more than 14.5 million single-use needles to more than 30 countries, including Côte d’Ivoire and São Tomé and Principe.
These include the 0.5 millilitre syringes which are meant for use with the AstraZeneca vaccine, while the 0.3 millilitre version is for the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
One billion syringes
In total, UNICEF aims to supply up to one billion syringes and 10 million safety boxes to countries in 2021, ahead of the broader rollout of new coronavirus vaccines in 82 low and low-to-middle income countries.
“In this global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, syringes are as vital as the vaccine itself,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
“It is critical to have adequate supplies of syringes already in place in every country before the vaccine arrives so that the vaccine can be administered safely. This would allow immunization to start immediately and help turn the tide on this terrible virus.”
Call to smooth access for vaccine distribution
The UN civil aviation organization ICAO, and the World Customs Organization (WCO), published a joint statement on Tuesday, calling on governments to demonstrate “maximum flexibility with respect to border clearance” and the air transport supply chain operations which are essential to the effective distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and related medical supplies.
The two agencies have also developed new guidelines to help countries achieve better alignment of their customs and security procedures.
Signed by ICAO Secretary General, Fang Liu and WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, the joint statement on vaccines urges the rapid establishment of the infrastructure needed to support end-to-end vaccine storage and logistics for public supplies.
Improved open collaboration between aviation and customs authorities and partnering organizations, is also strongly emphasized in the statement. The agencies are also encouraging countries to designate required aviation staff as “key workers” providing an essential service, in alignment with the WHO’s Roadmap for Prioritizing Uses of COVID-19 Vaccines.
Full report here.