Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – A global initiative for equal access to the COVID-19 vaccine, COVAX, has so far distributed 28.3 million doses of vaccine to 46 countries around the world.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi made the statement while chairing the virtual COVAX Advance Market Commitment Engagement Group (AMC EG) meeting along with Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse and Canadian Minister for International Development Karina Gould on Thursday (March 17).

"Since the last meeting, we have witnessed significant developments as vaccination programs have started in at least 131 countries, and COVAX has sent more than 28.3 million doses of vaccine to more than 46 countries," said Foreign Minister Retno.

She added that since the last meeting in January 2021, there have been very positive developments that aroused hope, along with challenges and dynamics that should be coped with together, including new variants of the coronavirus and vaccine delivery scheduling.

During the meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the mutation of the virus has been predicted from the beginning, and it continuously monitors the development.

Who’s researches show that those variants do not negatively impact the efficacy of vaccines delivered through the COVAX facility.

COVAX AMC EG is a forum between AMC countries and donor countries for the procurement and distribution of vaccines for the former.

The COVAX Facility expects to provide vaccines for 20 percent of the population of each AMC country and supports the readiness of AMC countries to undertake a national vaccination plan.

Indonesia's participation in COVAX is one of the efforts to meet the vaccination target for the country’s 181.5 million people by March 2022.

Reporting by Indonesia Window