Devex: CEPI CEO: Scarcity, ‘vaccine nationalism’ biggest barriers for COVID-19 vaccine access
“Global politics and vaccine scarcity are the biggest challenges to ensuring that a future COVID-19 vaccine will be available in the world’s poorest countries, according to Richard Hatchett, CEO at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. ‘Managing the scarcity of a vaccine in a context that is highly politically charged is the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge to global access and equity and equitable access for developing countries is a phenomenon that I’ve sometimes referred to as “vaccine nationalism,”‘ he told Devex President and Editor-in-chief Raj Kumar during a virtual event Thursday…” (Saldinger, 6/12).

Reuters: AstraZeneca agrees to supply Europe with 400 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccine
“AstraZeneca Plc said on Saturday it signed a contract with European governments to supply the region with its potential vaccine against the coronavirus, the British drugmaker’s latest deal to pledge its drug to help combat the pandemic. The contract is for up to 400 million doses of the vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, the company said, adding that it was looking to expand manufacturing of the vaccine, which it said it would provide for no profit during the pandemic. … The deal is the first contract signed by Europe’s Inclusive Vaccines Alliance (IVA), a group formed by France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands to secure vaccine doses for all member states as soon as possible…” (6/13).

Science: ‘It’s really complicated.’ United States and others wrestle with putting COVID-19 vaccines to the test
“A Chinese company will turn to Brazil for help. The World Health Organization (WHO) is adopting a strategy forged in a war zone during an Ebola outbreak. And the Trump administration plans to lean on existing U.S. infrastructure for tackling HIV and flu. These are some of the disparate strategies about to be employed in the next and most important stage of the COVID-19 vaccine race: the large-scale, placebo-controlled human trials needed to prove which of the more than 135 candidates are safe and effective…” (Cohen, 6/12).

Additional coverage of the race to develop a novel coronavirus vaccine is available from Bloomberg (2), NBC, POLITICO, Reuters, and Washington Times.