This week, I'll share interesting vaccine facts after 🇲🇾 joined COVAX. Today, it’s about global vaccine supplies.
The single biggest purchaser of vaccines in the world is not China or India.
It’s @UNICEF, buying >2 billion doses a year. @stefanswartpet is Head of Health there.
In 2017, UNICEF purchased:
=~2.5 billion doses
=~25 vaccines
=for ~100 low and middle-income countries
=covering ~45% of all children <5 years old.
This massive purchasing power allows them to reduce unit prices (and is the same principle behind COVAX).
Vaccines are made by many companies. 5 companies produce 70-80% of the world’s vaccines, with a pretty long list after that.
It could be dangerous to rely on so few companies for global supply. Fortunately, they usually have business continuity plans to ensure steady supply.
Transporting vaccines isn't easy, because most vaccines need to travel between 2-8 Celcius. This is called a “cold chain”.
This complicated picture shows how different vaccines have different temperature sensitivities. Ice-cream boxes aren’t good enough for vaccines!
That’s why UNICEF has invested in smart ideas to keep vaccines cool, like solar-powered fridges for tropical countries.
This is also called frugal innovation, so if you have ideas on cold chains & logistics, get in touch!
If we get a Covid vaccine today, we'll need 8000 jumbo jets to send the vaccines to the world!
(To compare, MAS only has 81 planes & AirAsia has 97)
We'll then need lorries, vans & motorcycles to go to the whole country. The vaccine supply chain is truly a marvel. (end)
1. unicef.org/supply/stories…
2. who.int/immunization/p…
3. unicef.org/eca/press-rele…
4. who.int/immunization/p…
5. unicef.org/innovation/sto…
6. theguardian.com/world/2020/sep…
7. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirAsia#F…
8. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia_…
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