Coronavirus Update: Covax gets $2.4 billion in COVID vaccine supply commitments for world’s poorest countries as experts warn on variants

The global tally of COVID-19 cases neared 172 million on Thursday, and the number of vaccines administered edged closer to 2 billion, a day after a summit ended with pledges of $2.4 billion to the Covax program that aims to secure vaccine supply for the world’s poorest countries.