Dear Volkan,

With this email PIU team is sharing with you the basic information on COVAX facility, which we think will be very helpful to proceed further. Please find information below:

On 24 April 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted the launch of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a new global collaboration to accelerate development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines (https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator ).

COVAX (https://www.who.int/initiatives/act-accelerator/covax#:~:text=COVAX%20is%20co%2Dled%20by,every%20country%20in%20the%20world ), the act-accelerator vaccines pillar, is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO.

Its COVAX Facility (https://www.gavi.org/covid19/covax-facility ) aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.

Through supporting financially the world’s prominent manufacturers’ active portfolios of front-runner candidate vaccines, the COVAX Facility ensures participant countries’ equal access to essential doses of vaccine(s); - this is expected that by end of 2021, 2 bln. doses of new developed vaccine(s) will be available to purchase for all participants of the Facility.  - Importantly, it’s calculated that $11.3 B is needed urgently to cover needed investments within the next 6 months. This includes almost $2 B in immediate funding for advance market commitments to secure doses for LMICs.

At a current stage, unprecedented race for development of COVID-19 vaccine is still under way, with over 300 proposals and only 9 candidate vaccines among them actively supported by the facility. From these, 7 are at the stage of clinical trials.

On 31^st August the MoILHSA of Georgia signed the standard affiliation / commitment letter with the COVAX Facility, which is also providing for selecting purchase model from the 2 available mechanisms under the Facility. – Optional Purchase model has been selected for its flexibilities applied. Under the same commitment, probable coverage rate of the vaccination has been defined: at least 20% of the country’s population will be covered, and if 2-dose series of vaccination adopted then 1,484,400 doses (“total participant doses”) of the vaccine will be essential to allocate. 

By participating in the COVAX Facility, the Participant will have access to doses of vaccine candidates as a result of the advance purchase commitments that Gavi will conclude with vaccine manufacturers. As doses from successful candidates become available, a Participant will be given the opportunity to purchase Approved Vaccines from manufacturers. (excerpt from guiding documents)

Importantly, the Optional Purchase model also provides for possibility of rejecting a vaccine offered, as the country will have a discretion on choosing among possible available options (“purchase opportunities”), the same time, securing full amount of assigned doses, but accepting certain delays if concrete opportunity was rejected. - This is paramount, as the participant countries stay conscious of the realistic expectation that only 1 or 2 vaccines can be available at initial stages, in a limited amount of doses.

In case of rejecting concrete “purchase opportunity”, the participant country receives prepaid doses of acceptable vaccine. Also importantly, if all assigned doses are not purchased under the facility, the “risk sharing guarantee” payment is retained, as irrevocable.  – For all terms and definitions, see please the annexed Commitment Agreement / Optional Purchase Arrangement, received from GAVI on 8^th September 2020 via email communication, compliant with the terms and conditions outlined in the letter confirming engagement of Georgia with the Facility, signed by the Ministry on 31^st August 2020.

18 September 2020 is a deadline of presenting a duly signed Agreement between GAVI and the Ministry on behalf of the GoG to the Facility.

After the signing the Agreement, 9 October is a deadline to cover the committed advance payments to the Facility, outlined in the Agreement:

“Upfront Payment” ($3.10 per dose) which means US$4,601,640,

(Full cost of “Total Participant Doses” meaning 1,484,400 number of doses of “Approved Vaccine”, sufficient to vaccinate 20% of the Participant’s Population, ($10.55 per single dose) makes $15,660,420 total.)

The “Risk Sharing Guarantee Amount”, which means US$593,760, must be also paid in advance.

The COVAX Facility also leaves it at the country’s full discretion to define the financial sources to participate in the Facility, whether it is state budget, contributions from international financial institutions, or other investment instruments.

Therefore, the MoILHSA intends to mobilize the funds from the Georgia Emergency COVID-19 Emergency Project, supported by the World Bank Group, to accommodate the upfront and guarantee payments to the Facility, - $5,195,400 totally.

Through the PIU, the First Deputy Minister of MoILHSA conveys the Ministry’s great appreciation to the World Bank Group, for considering inclusion of such payment of paramount importance to the COVID-19 emergency response within the priority procurement plan of the Project.

Kind regards,

ნინო კვერნაძე

პროექტის მენეჯერი,

მსოფლიო ბანკის COVID-19-ის წინააღმდეგ სწრაფი რეაგირების

პროექტის განმახორციელებელი ჯგუფი (PIU), 

საქართველოს ოკუპირებული ტერიტორიებიდან დევნილთა, შრომის, ჯანმრთელობისა და სოციალური დაცვის სამინისტრო 

www.moh.gov.ge  

Nino Kvernadze

Project Manager, PIU – World Bank

Emergency COVID-19 Response Project Implementation Unit

Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia

www.moh.gov.ge 

Email: ninokvernadze@moh.gov.ge

Cell: +995 599 18 46 44