Nearly two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be shipped and flown to developing countries next year in a “mammoth operation”, the UN children’s agency Unicef has said, as world leaders vowed to ensure the fair distribution of vaccines.

Unicef said it was working with over 350 airlines and freight companies to deliver vaccines and one billion syringes to poor countries such as Burundi, Afghanistan and Yemen as part of Covax, a global Covid-19 vaccine allocation plan with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“This invaluable collaboration will go a long way to ensure that enough transport capacity is in place for this historic and mammoth operation,” said Etleva Kadilli, director of Unicef’s Supply Division, in a statement.