An ambitious humanitarian project to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the world’s poorest people is facing potential shortages of money, cargo planes, refrigeration and vaccines themselves — and running into skepticism even from some of those it’s intended to help most, AP reported.

Covax was conceived as a way of giving countries access to coronavirus vaccines regardless of their wealth.

It is being led by the World Health Organisation, Gavi, a public-private alliance, funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which buys immunisations for 60 per cent of the world’s children and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI, another Gates-supported public-private collaboration.

In one of the biggest obstacles, rich countries have locked up most of the world’s potential vaccine supply through 2021, and US and others have refused to join the project.