Poorest countries can expect vaccines within weeks: WHO.

World's poorest countries can expect to start receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine doses between the end of January and mid-February, says the World Health Organization as there have been scepticism in the wake of advance booking by the rich. Vaccination is already under way in some of the world's wealthiest nations, including the United States, Britain, European Union countries and Canada. China and Russia are also using their homespun ones. Covax, the globally pooled vaccine- procurement and-distribution mechanism, has struck agreements to secure two billion doses - and the first of those will start rolling out within weeks, said the WHO's head of vaccines, Kate O'Brien, on Thursday. Covax aims to secure vaccines for 20 percent of the population in each participating country by the end of the year, with funding covered for the 92 lower- and lower-middle-income economies involved with the scheme. It is co-led by the WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Banglsdesh is a participant in the Gavi vaccine coalition and also has struck a deal for collecting Oxford AstraZeneca jab from the Serum Institute of India where it is being manufactured under deal with the British developers of the inoculation. Asked how quickly lower-income African nations would get vaccines, O'Brien told a WHO live social media event: 'The facility has access to over two billion doses of vaccine. 'We will start to deliver those vaccines probably by the end of January, and, if not, certainly by early February and mid- February. 'That's how countries in Africa and South Asia, and other countries around the world of these 92 that are less able to afford vaccines, are actually going to get vaccines.' - Vaccines pipeline - The WHO granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on December 31, paving the way for countries worldwide to give swift approval to its import and distribution. According to the WHO's...