The COVAX plan to ensure that poorer nations have timely access to COVID-19 vaccines got a major boost in the arm today with an agreement for doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as UK officials warned that the B117 variant might be more deadly than older strains.Pfizer, US participation brightens COVAX outlookThe COVAX Accelerator, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global health groups including Gavi, was launched last April to support vaccine development and ensure that lower- and middle-income countries have access to them.
Health officials have hoped to avoid a replay of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, when richer nations bought up most of the vaccine supply.The effort, which has slowly but steadily gaining support, got