Rich nations dip into COVAX supply while poor wait for shots

By MARIA CHENG and LORI HINNANT
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Low-income countries were supposed to get COVID-19 vaccines through a shared international system instead of waiting at the back of the line for unreliable donations from rich countries. It hasn’t worked out that way. Some rich countries bought up doses through the initiative known as COVAX despite already having vaccines. Britain, for example, received more than twice as many COVAX doses in June as the entire continent of Africa. A tally by The Associated Press shows that many poorer countries have landed in exactly the predicament the initiative was supposed to avoid. They are once again at the mercy of donations, which are falling far short of what was promised.