COVAX Manufacturing Task Force set up to address vaccine supply challenges

Fearing for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, COVAX has set up a manufacturing task force to coordinate with other organizations in identifying and tackling roadblocks to those critical health supplies.

According to the task force, the production output of COVID-19 vaccines is set to exceed 10 billion doses by the end of the year. However, with scale-up of manufacturing, issues have arisen in terms of raw materials, trade barriers, and other headaches plaguing the global supply chain. To that end, the guiding forces at COVAX — the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), WHO, Gavi, and UNICEF — intend to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers’ Network (DCVMN), and Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) to keep supplies flowing.

Both raw materials and single-use materials alike will be in the crosshairs of these partners, who seek to ramp up supply capacity and hasten their cross-border transit. Vaccine components and finished products will not be neglected either. In an effort to affect this change, the task force will match manufacturers suffering shortages with others that may have the necessary supplies and tap the larger global vaccine chain to confront short-term, medium-term, and long-term manufacturing bottlenecks.

Long-term, the task force aims to strengthen regional health security. In the more immediate, it hopes to create voluntary partnerships dedicated to increasing visibility in the supply chain, matchmake for fill-finish capacity among manufacturers from various regions, tap global vaccine capacity to support vaccine development and facilitate voluntary transfers of technology between manufacturers and advance the creation of global trade processes better suited to the free movement of supplies critical to vaccine manufacture.

Other goals will include updating manufacturing facilities, boosting public and private sector investments in vaccine manufacturing, and more.

While the current partners bring a wealth of connections and tools to bear, they will also seek collaboration with additional industrial and manufacturing supply partners, governments, and regional bodies.