On 24 March 2021 Sayed Ahmad Z. is in the ‘master mix’ phase — the second of three steps — of the COVID-19 testing process at the Herat Regional Reference Laboratory where all COVID-19 tests for the western Afghan provinces of Herat, Badghis and Ghor are conducted. COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and WHO working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.