Commenting on the deal at the regular end-of-week press conference in Geneva, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said pending emergency authorization, close to 150 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine should also be available for COVAX to distribute, up to the end of March. 

February delivery date 

“Together, these announcements mean COVAX could begin delivering doses in February, provided we can finalize a supply agreement”, he said, noting that the deal “also opens the door” for countries with spare doses, to donate them. 

In a press release outlining the deal, Tedros said the “urgent and equitable rollout of vaccines is not just a moral imperative, it’s also a strategic and economic imperative…This agreement with Pfizer will help to enable COVAX to save lives, stabilize health systems and drive the global economic recovery.” 

He told journalists that with the United States back in the WHO fold – following President Biden’s executive