Watch live: 172 countries signed up to vaccines development programme, WHO announces

Watch the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lead a briefing on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the player above.

172 countries have now signed up for a vaccine development programme that will ensure an equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.

The milestone was marked by the sending out of the terms and conditions of the programme on Sunday ahead of the final deadline of August 31 for countries to express their intent on being involved.

So far, 70 per cent of the world’s population is covered through the list of countries that have signed up.

Highlighting the efforts of governments around the world to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Ghebreyesus said more funding for the COVAX act-accelerator vaccines pillar was “urgently needed to move the portfolio forward.”

He said COVAX aimed to deliver 2 billion doses of a safe, viable vaccine by the end of 2021.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel. As I said last week, together we can do it,” he said.

The news comes as Russia became the first country in the world to licence a coronavirus vaccine after President Vladimir Putin authorised it ahead of phase 3 trials two weeks ago.

Putin went as far as announcing his daughter had already been inoculated.

Controversially, when the announcement was made, the vaccine had not yet completed advanced trials which would prove it works, something that breaks normal scientific protocol.

WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan indicated that the WHO had asked the Russians to share the data on efficacy.

“Safety needs to be assessed short term but also long term as some side effects are only picked up later on,” she said.

Asked whether countries should consider ordering doses of the Russian vaccine, Dr Bruce Aylward said the WHO would not be recommending any vaccines that hadn’t passed through its “pre-qualification emergency use licensing programme.”

To date, no vaccine has met this milestone.

*This story is being updated*

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