World Leaders Ensure Global Equitable Access for Covid Vaccines
Commitments were also made to free up supply chains and remove bottlenecks that restrict or slow down the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
World leaders joined forces at the “One World Protected”- Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Summit hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and Gavi Board Chair, José Manuel Barroso.
The leaders pledged their support to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) securing US$ 2.4 billion, reaching a total of US$ 9.6 billion for Covid-19 vaccine procurement. In addition, donors have pledged US$ 775 million for vaccine delivery.
This funding will allow the COVAX AMC to secure 1.8 billion fully subsidised doses for delivery to lower-income economies in 2021 and early 2022. This is enough to protect nearly 30% of the adult population in AMC-eligible economies. The funds raised will also support COVAX to diversify its vaccine portfolio in times of supply uncertainty and new variant emergence and to plan the scenarios and strategy for public health needs for 2022 and beyond.
“Bringing an end to the Covid-19 pandemic is the most pressing challenge of our time – and nobody wins the race until everyone wins,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. “Today, as we looked back on one year of COVAX, we saw that global leaders clearly recognise the need for equitable access and support the principle that ability to pay should not determine whether someone is protected from this virus.”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is stepping up to support African Union countries with an additional EUR 300 million financing to access vaccines via the COVAX cost-sharing scheme – leveraging domestic resources to procure safe and efficacious vaccines through COVAX.
This EIB EUR 300 million financing is the path forward towards an aggregate commitment of US$ 1 billion from Multilateral Development Banks and International Financing Institutions to support a cost-sharing initiative enabling AMC-eligible economies to use domestic resources to purchase additional vaccines through COVAX.
This will facilitate them to take advantage of COVAX’s global logistics system, globally negotiated volume and prices, and other critical benefits such as the No Fault Compensation Scheme.
Commitments were also made to free up supply chains and remove bottlenecks that restrict or slow down the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, raw materials and components. Vaccine manufacturers have reaffirmed their support to COVAX as the only global solution to ending the acute phase of the pandemic.
The Summit was an opportunity for leaders to reflect on the challenges, successes and lessons learned as Gavi COVAX AMC marks one year since its launch; and look ahead to potential scenarios to address the pandemic and bolster global health security for the future. The pledges, commitments and support from the global community at the Summit will enable COVAX to continue working towards keeping everyone safe.
The first international delivery of doses of Covid-19 vaccines supported by COVAX arrived in Ghana on February 24. As of June 3, more than 77 million doses have been shipped to 127 countries across six continents. Doses shared by countries will be used to make up for COVAX’s short-term supply disruption, which is expected to last into the third quarter of 2021.
