Revealed: big shortfall in Covax Covid vaccine-sharing scheme

Only a fifth of doses expected by May delivered as export bans, hoarding and supply shortages bite

The global vaccine-sharing initiative Covax has so far delivered about one in five of the Oxford/AstraZeneca doses it estimated would arrive in countries by May, according to a Guardian analysis, starkly illustrating the cost of exports bans, hoarding and supply shortages on a scheme that represents a key lifeline for many in the developing world.

The organisations that run Covax had predicted that countries would receive fewer vaccines that expected after the Indian government restricted exports from its largest manufacturer in response to a catastrophic second wave there, but the figures reveal the shortfall to be severe, leaving many governments scrambling to secure doses elsewhere.

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