WHO fights COVID-19 with humanitarian assistance and vaccine equity push

“The story is about how we use the tools we have to prevent infections and save people’s lives.

We have to remain vigilant and do what we can to not only get vaccine equity around the world, but to ensure that we stop this virus from circulating.

I think we can and countries have shown us over and over that we can,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO COVID-19 technical lead on COVID-19, during a recent interview.

WHO–with support from its donors and partners–continues to keep up the fight around the world.

Afghanistan and Ethiopia: Shipping life-saving medical supplies and humanitarian aid in challenging contexts

Published by WHO/EMRO in September 2021

A shipment of approximately 23 metric tonnes of life-saving medicines and supplies from WHO recently arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was among the first humanitarian aid to arrive since operations were disrupted in August. Operated by Qatar Airways, the flight was donated by the Government of the State of Qatar.

Published by WHO/EMRO in September 2021

The WHO Logistics Hub in Dubai delivered 85 metric tonnes of life-saving medical supplies to Ethiopia, the largest single shipment of humanitarian cargo to date airlifted by the Hub.

The supplies, including essential medicines, trauma and emergency surgery kits, infusions, consumables, equipment and cholera kits, were flown to Addis Ababa by a charter flight donated by the United Arab Emirates. It will help address the urgent needs of more than 150,000 people. The United Arab Emirates and the International Humanitarian City provided valuable support to help make the delivery possible.

The German government donated 924,000 masks and other equipment to the WHO Office in Liberia.

Liberia, Sierra Leone, Islamic Republic of Iran, Nicaragua, Viet Nam: Delivering COVID-19 vaccines with partners

Published by WHO/AFRO in September 2021

Liberia received 108,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped via the African Union’s African Vaccine Acquisition Trust initiative, a partnership with UNICEF, which is funded by the World Bank.

Published by WHO/AFRO in September 2021

The United States Government donated 264,690 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Sierra Leone to help accelerate its vaccination drive. These were delivered in two tranches through COVAX, co-led by WHO, Gavi, the Global Vaccines Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the self-financing participant countries of the COVAX Facility, received a batch of approximately 3.2 million vials of COVID-19 vaccine.

Published by WHO/PAHO in September 2021

Spain donated 199,200 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Nicaragua through COVAX.

France and Italy donated approximately 1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Viet Nam through the COVAX Facility.

South Sudan received a consignment of 152,950 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by the United States as part of the third delivery made through COVAX to date.