U.S.-brokered J&J vaccine deal for refugees in Thailand is delayed
The delay underscores the legal and logistical hurdles U.S. and COVAX face in getting vulnerable populations vaccinated.
The Covid vaccine doses the Biden administration and COVAX promised Thailand for refugees living in the country have yet to be delivered, according to three people with direct knowledge of the situation.
In November, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. government had helped broker a deal to send millions of Johnson & Johnson doses to Thailand. The shots would be dispensed through COVAX’s humanitarian buffer, which specifically facilitates immunizations for people experiencing humanitarian emergencies because of conflict or who live in areas inaccessible to governments.
The doses were to be delivered to a Thai nongovernmental organization in December for refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border. The group tapped to help distribute the doses could not get legal permission from the Thai government to do so. Officials in the country are still working with COVAX on the documentation it needs before the doses are released to the country, two of the people familiar with the matter said.
The delayed shipment of J&J doses underscores the legal and logistical hurdles U.S. and COVAX face in getting vulnerable populations vaccinated almost a year after the Covid-19 vaccines became available.
In an interview with POLITICO about 2022 Covid-19 global health goals, Seth Berkley, the CEO of Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, said the J&J doses are still earmarked for Thailand. He said COVAX is hoping to ramp up donations through the humanitarian mechanism this year. COVAX announced in November that it had shipped 1.6 million doses to Iran to help protect Afghan refugees.
“There are stateless people and there are situations where people aren’t recognized. We have to have a humanitarian buffer,” Berkley said. “We want those vaccines to be made available in a way that allows them to be used quickly. That’s what we’ve been trying to work on.” Berkley noted countries have to apply for doses from COVAX to receive doses from the humanitarian buffer.
The White House declined to comment.
Global health advocates are encountering many obstacles in ensuring that shots not only get to countries quickly and equitably, but also that they get into arms. Liability contract language, a lack of adequate freezer storage and dwindling health care staff impact the ordering, storing and administering of the doses.
COVAX and the Biden administration are focusing on helping nations across the world, including those in low- and middle-income countries, develop plans to order more vaccines and administer them in 2022.
“I think resources are a constraint,” said Gayle Smith, who led the State Department’s global Covid-19 response last year, referring to the global health community’s 2022 vaccination efforts.