New variants of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 have emerged to give everyone a powerful reminder that these viruses can mutate and some important scientific response may be needed so as to remain effective against these developed viruses.

As per the recent news sources considering the preliminary data on effectiveness of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine towards the viral variant B.1.351, primary analysis of Phase III trials has shown that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine offers protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death if used within a specific viral setting. This also means that it is vitally important to determine the effectiveness of ongoing vaccines when it comes to more severe illness caused by the B.1.351 variant.

Further researches have confirmed the optimal vaccination schedule and its impact on vaccine effectiveness. A funding has been announced by CEPI to optimize and extend the use of existing vaccines through clinical researches, including some mix-and-match studies of various vaccines that will be used in combinations to improve the quality and strength of the overall immune recovery rate. These studies will turn out useful while optimizing the use of availability of these vaccines, such as AstraZeneca and Oxford vaccine.

Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) at WHO assembled today to observe all the evidence on AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, real time performance against the ongoing variants, and to consider the impact of the product and risk-free assessment for the use cases. These instructions for the use of the AstraZeneca product will be finalized and presented to the WHO officials.

COVAX was established to make sure a global and equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. Being the largest and actively managed organization of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, COVAX offers their own self-financing participants and for those who are eligible for support through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment which has access to a wide range of vaccine candidates, it is highly suitable for a variety of contexts and settings. With an ability to produce and deploy vaccines all around the globe to address the ongoing pandemic is more important than ever, the importance of coordination to make sure that impact and value of vaccines will not be taken at risk. If it requires any new vaccines, global access to these vaccines is always a necessary, if we want to see our surrounding safe.

In regards with the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, COVAX has already signed advance order agreements with AstraZeneca and various institutes have published their plans to distribute almost 350 million doses in their first batch. We expect to hear from WHO, whether the vaccines will be made available for emergency use listing (EUL) as well as a on SAGE recommendation on optimal usage.