Dr Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser at World Health Organisation (WHO), said that the COVAX programme delivered 90 million COVID-19 doses to 131 countries. He added that this was not enough to protect people worldwide from a disease that is still spreading at a large scale. As a few African countries approach an inevitable third wave of COVID-19, the shortage in vaccine supply becomes evident.

Also read | Cuban COVID vaccine Abdala ’92 % effective’, maker says

Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, asked to end the hoarding of vaccines by richer countries as his country sees a steep rise in COVID-19 cases. So far, 40 million doses have been dispensed in Africa, which is less than 2% of the continent’s population, said Ramaphosa, reported BBC.

Ramaphosa said that his government was working with COVAX (or COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) to set up a hub in the country to produce more vaccines in South Africa. COVAX was established last year to ensure that countries around the world can avail of COVID-19 doses, with wealthier countries subsiding costs for poorer countries.

Also read | All you need to know about COVID-19 related blood clots in arteries

COVAX’s initial target was to provide two billion doses across the world by the end of 2021. It is a programme led by WHO and other global organisations. Most of the COVAX production are being donated to poorer nations, with a target of protecting at least 20% of its population.

COVAX distribution has been hampered by production delays and disruption in its delivery, leading to scarcity of vaccines in countries wholly dependent on COVAX. Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Uganda and Trinidad and Tobago are some of the countries that are running out of vaccines in recent times, reported BBC.