UN launches tool to monitor COVID-19 vaccine roll-outs in countries in humanitarian crises

UNITED NATIONS, March 5 (Xinhua) — The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched a new element of a data tool focusing on the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in countries experiencing humanitarian emergencies, said the office on Friday.

The new element will track both vaccines allocated through COVAX and deliveries to the countries on the watch list. The tool also tracks which countries have received donations or procured vaccines, said OCHA.

COVAX, the global tool to procure and deliver vaccines for low- and middle-income countries, has allocated 73 million doses to 25 countries with humanitarian emergencies in the first round, with deliveries already under way, it said.

As of Friday, COVAX has delivered almost 7 million doses in five countries with a humanitarian emergency: Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria and Sudan. A further 5.8 million doses have been donated or procured in 10 countries in humanitarian crises, it said.

Globally, at least 283 million people have been administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines. But fewer than 500,000 of those people are in six countries with a humanitarian emergency, said OCHA. Enditem