Tokyo / Geneva, 2 June 2021 – World leaders joined forces today 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 to pledge 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 strategies for public health needs for 2022 and beyond.
Prime Minister H.E. Suga Yoshihide said, “It’s been an honor to co-host the Gavi COVAX AMC Summit today and to contribute a large part of the remaining funding gap in order to deliver vaccines, a ray of hope, to as many people as possible and as early as possible, throughout the world, in an equitable manner”.
“I want to thank Prime Minister Suga and the Japanese people for their leadership in helping drive the global response to COVID-19,” said José Manuel Barroso, Chair of the Gavi Board. “COVAX is the largest and most complex multilateral distribution of vaccines ever undertaken and the solution aimed at ensuring the most at-risk people, everywhere, are protected from the virus.”
The United States of America hosted the launch of the Gavi COVAX AMC Investment Opportunity in April and today Vice President Kamala Harris attended the Summit, reiterating US support as a key Gavi partner for more than two decades. Its commitment of US$ 4 billion for procurement and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines for lower-income countries is helping ensure COVAX is equipped to reach its goals.
Alongside the financial pledges, first dose sharing donations were announced by Belgium, Denmark, and Japan as well as additional pledges from Spain and Sweden, boosting short term supplies by over 54 million vaccine doses.
The European Investment Bank has stepped up to support African Union countries with 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 announcement 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.
Elsewhere in the programme, commitments were made to free up supply chains and remove bottle necks 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 also 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.
“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.”
At the event today, a number of donor governments announced significant new commitments worth a total of US$ 2.4 billion towards the 2021 goal. This includes:
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a US$ 50 million commitment to both GAVI’s COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) to purchase COVID-19 vaccines and to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to support the delivery of these vaccines to lower-income countries.
In addition to these, private sector partners also mobilised significant new resources totalling more than US$ 300 million for the Gavi COVAX AMC. New partners such as UBS Optimus Foundation and Twilio joined COVAX, and existing partners such as Google.org, Mastercard and Visa Foundation increased their commitments in support of vaccine equity. Individuals also contributed to COVAX through the Vaccine Forward Initiative and the Go Give One campaign.
The Summit also saw several new dose sharing commitments, amounting to 54 million, supporting the Gavi COVAX AMC in its immediate supply need. These included:
The first international delivery of doses of COVID-19 vaccines supported by COVAX arrived in Ghana on February 24. As of today, 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.
João Lourenço, President, Angola: “The collective and solid reaction from countries and private donors participating in the One World Protected Summit will help us overcome the enormous challenge facing the populations of the 92 AMC countries – human life and the smooth functioning of our social and economic structure is dependent on it. Angola has received over a million doses thanks to COVAX and hopes we can soon access enough vaccines to cover 20% of our population.”
Fran Alibi, Minister for Health, El Salvador: “The word inspiration is the perfect word to describe what COVAX means for El Salvador and how important it is for our country. It has provided a middle-income country like ours access with fairness so that we can work for our people and guarantee that each and every Salvadorian will have the opportunity to protect themselves and their lives from this disease.”
Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, Minister for Health, Lao People’s Democratic Republic: “It is an honour for me to relay to you the importance of the COVAX Facility. We are currently experiencing our first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and are facing numerous challenges in responding to it. Vaccine coverage is an important part of our response and without the COVAX AMC, from whom we have received two allocations of safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines, we would be unable to reach it. Without global equitable access to vaccine doses, the pandemic will remain a threat to everyone.”
Scott Morrison, Prime Minister, Australia: “This is a global pandemic – it doesn’t know politics, it doesn’t know borders and none of us will be truly safe until all of us are safe. So our highest priority must be to ensure that everyone can receive a safe, effective and affordable vaccine. We strongly support the COVAX AMC and are delighted to announce a further AU$50 million contribution from Australia to expand vaccine access for high-risk populations in lower- and lower middle income countries.”
Alexander de Croo, Prime Minister, Belgium: “The only way we will beat this pandemic is as one global community acting together. That is why COVAX is vital in bringing to a halt to the circulation of the virus – to stop it mutating and developing new variants that might threaten people everywhere, vaccinated or not. And that is why Belgium supports COVAX. Since none of us will be safe unless all of us are safe.”
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister, Iceland: “In facing a global pandemic we cannot exclude and neglect certain groups of people when it comes to vaccinations. Every country must do their share in correcting the imbalance in the access to Covid 19 vaccines and closing the funding gap is key to the global efforts in guaranteeing fair and equitable access to vaccines for all. The pandemic has illustrated the inter-connectedness of the world and the importance of a healthy planet and shared responsibility”
Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister, Luxembourg: “To fight the pandemic effectively, vaccine doses need to go where they are needed the most. As part of Team Europe, we have a decisive role to play in supporting the COVAX AMC and assisting communities in the world’s poorest countries to access vaccines. The pandemic has exacerbated inequalities and we need to respond effectively and sustainably to leave no one behind which is why we are delighted to be doubling our contribution to the Facility with an additional EUR 1 million.”
Pravind Kumar Jugnauth’ Prime Minister, Republic of Mauritius: “Equitable and timely access to vaccines and medicines is an important part of the solution, especially for small island developing states.”
Rodrigo, Roa Duterte, President, Philippines: “The COVID-19 pandemic will only end when everyone has access to safe and effective vaccines. The imbalance in access between rich and poor countries must be corrected or there will be no real global recovery. As both a donor and recipient country we count on the COVAX AMC initiative to bring much-needed vaccines to developing countries. It is our moral responsibility to face this crisis with greater solidarity and urgency. The Philippines is pleased to commit US$ 1 million as a contribution to our collective investment for the people of the world.”
Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President of the Government of Spain: “My government saw clearly from the beginning of the crisis that we will only be safe from the virus when everyone on the planet is safe. We are proud to be committing another 15 million vaccines through COVAX and to be providing an additional EUR 50 million to contribute to the international effort to fight COVID-19.”
Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister, Sweden: “The goal is clear, we need global access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, and we need it now. I believe the path to success is clear – we need dollars, doses, and deliveries. Together we must fully fund COVAX and I am proud of Sweden’s contribution to date, the largest per capita – and its most recent pledge to share an additional 3 million doses in 2021 to support the largest mass vaccination campaign in history.”
Guy Parmelin, President of the Confederation, Switzerland: “Since the beginning of the crisis, Switzerland has been committed to finding global solutions for a rapid, affordable, and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Switzerland was among the early contributors to the ACT-Accelerator, including for the launch of the COVAX Advance Market Commitment AMC. However, setbacks caused by emerging variants are a constant reminder that we must act faster. It is my pleasure to announce Switzerland will dedicate almost US$ 140 million to the COVAX AMC and will continue to engage through multilateral cooperation to control the pandemic.”
President von der Leyen, President, European Commission: “To accelerate safe and effective vaccination everywhere we all need to step up efforts. This is the only way to get out of the current crisis and to prevent a new pandemic. Team Europe is investing in COVAX, both financially and by sharing vaccines. Because we believe this is the best way to ensure universal, fair, and affordable access to COVID19 vaccines. Our common goal is to leave no one behind. The EU, together with the European Investment Bank, will reorient 300 million euros to COVAX. This is Team Europe’s contribution to AVATT-COVAX’s cost-sharing rapid finance scheme. This scheme will help vaccine purchases in Africa. And it will foster links between COVAX and the African Union.”
Sebastian Kurz, Chancellor, Austria: “The COVID-19 virus knows no borders which is why the need for global solidarity and international cooperation has never been greater. Austria has been committed to a joint international approach since the beginning of the crisis, and the COVAX AMC has played a crucial role in securing global access to vaccines. Austria will continue to show its solidarity and is particularly proud to donate an additional EUR 2.6 million to the COVAX AMC, thereby almost doubling its contribution to 5 million euro in total.”
Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, Canada and COVAX AMC Co-Chair: “Canada is committed to a robust global effort to stop COVID-19. That is why our government will provide an additional commitment of CAD 220M to the COVAX AMC for the procurement of doses for the 92 low and lower-middle-income economies. This is a doubling of our initial contribution. We urge all countries with the means to do so to support the COVAX Facility in any way they can.”
Eva-Maria Liimets, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Estonia: “We all know that fully restoring international trade, travel, prosperity, and security is only possible when COVID-19 is under control everywhere. Estonia remains committed to the equal and fair distribution of vaccines globally and is happy to announce an additional pledge of EUR 70’000 to support equitable global access to COVID-19 doses. COVAX has been instrumental in this global effort and we have a shared responsibility to make it succeed.”
Roberto Speranza, Minister of Health, Italy: “We appeal to all countries in a position to do so to contribute funds to Gavi AMC within ACT-A to accelerate access to 1.8 billion vaccine doses for lower-income economies.”
Flemming Møller Mortensen Minister for Development Cooperation and Nordic Cooperation, Denmark: “Global access to vaccines is still unbalanced and unfair which means international collective actions are required to finance and secure the doses needed to leave no one behind. We remain committed to protecting those suffering the most during the pandemic and are happy to announce that Denmark will donate 3 million vaccines in 2021. A substantial part will be donated through COVAX AMC.”
Ville Skinnari, Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Finland: “We’ve seen tremendous progress in COVID-19 vaccine development, however, we must make sure that they are equally distributed, leaving no one’s health behind. Finland is pleased to announce EUR 10 million in support to the Gavi COVAX AMC mechanism and its critical role in ending the pandemic”
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secrétaire d’Etat chargé de tourisme, des français de l’étranger et de la francophonie, France said: “France is proud to have contributed alongside Team Europe from the outset to the COVAX Facility and its action in support of fragile countries. This vaccine solidarity of which COVAX is the greatest example, is a moral imperative and the only way that we can end this pandemic together.”
H.E. Sheikh Dr Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kuwait: “Since the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global epidemic remains one of the biggest and most complex global challenges. It requires the international community to come together, cooperate and intensify effort and work in the direction of supporting the efforts of COVAX to ensure a fair, fast and safe access to the vaccine for everyone. To enhance and fortify global health security, the Stade of Kuwait is committing an additional US$ 40 million.”
Dominique Hasler, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein: “Liechtenstein welcomes the unified message of solidarity and cooperation sent by the international community in its response to the COVID-19 crisis. Lichtenstein is happy to be contributing an additional CHF100,000 towards ensuring equal access to vaccination for it to not become a global barometer of inequality.”
Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Malta: “As the virus and its variants continue to spread, we do not have the luxury of time and urgently need one world protected. This can only be accomplished by further raising vaccination rates, diversifying our vaccine portfolio, and preparing to fight variants. Cognisant of the urgent need faced by struggling countries around the world for access to COVID-19 vaccines, I am pleased to announce that Malta hereby commits to contributing to EU efforts to ensure that COVAX has the necessary resources to lead in the fight against the pandemic.”
Marcelo Ebrard, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico: “Mexico believes that COVAX is the best possible solution for rapid equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. It is fair, has the essential ethical dimension of human dignity is the only secure way of guaranteeing vaccine access for all to keep us all safe. Mexico believes COVAX is the way forward and is donating US$ 250,000, for now, to this initiative.”
Dr. Ahmad Al Saidi, Health Minister, Oman: “In Oman, we believe that international solidarity is not merely a goal to aspire to, but rather a duty. This is especially important in the field of health because it does not recognize borders or socioeconomics. COVAX has demonstrated its ability to harbor solidarity and to start a movement towards a more equal global distribution of vaccines and we are delighted to pledge US$ 1 million to the COVAX AMC. We are confident that having each of us play a part can save many lives and make the world a better place.”
Dominic Raab, Foreign Secretary, UK: “In less than six months COVAX has delivered vaccines to over 127 countries and territories – helping people in some of the world’s most hard-to-reach countries, such as Syria and Yemen. We are proud that thanks to British science and our international collaboration, around 98% of all COVAX vaccine doses have been produced by AstraZeneca – and these have reached every continent in the world.”
NguyễnThanh Long, Minister of Health, Vietnam: “Viet Nam has now received nearly 2.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX Facility. Viet Nam has quickly implemented vaccination for frontline forces to contain the epidemic and ensure a safe and effective vaccination campaign according to the COVAX vaccine rollout plan. Viet Nam will contribute US$ 500,000 to the COVAX Facility program. This support shows our appreciation for the effectiveness of this global initiative in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “The world must urgently come together to expand equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, or we risk more deaths and the emergence of new variants that could prolong the pandemic for everyone. Thanks to today’s contributions, especially Japan’s generous pledge and its leadership in global health, we’ve taken an important step towards that goal. This summit is a powerful example of what can be achieved when we act collectively to control the pandemic and save lives.”
Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank: “Over the last year global cooperation, including advanced funding from the European Investment Bank, has enabled COVAX to deliver 70 million doses in 126 countries, but access remains a privilege. Today’s One World Protected summit is mobilising urgent action essential to tackle the significant shortfall and increase overall financing. This will ensure that the global COVAX roll-out delivers billions of vaccines in 2021 and early 2022 to tackle COVID-19, save lives, and help communities and businesses to return to normality. As part of Team Europe, the EIB is currently working to increase its financing to COVAX, alongside backing new investment to strengthen health and economic resilience to the pandemic around the world.”
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca: “We understood from the start this was a global challenge – we were the first manufacturer to commit to COVAX and have supplied 97 percent of doses so far, with over 70 percent going to low and middle-income countries. It is great to see international organizations, governments, healthcare leaders, industry, and civil society come together and remove the barriers to getting vaccines to where they are most needed. Together we can bring an end to this devastating pandemic.”
Sai D. Prasad, President-DCVMN: “DCVMN takes this opportunity to congratulate all the donors for giving the highest priority to vaccines for COVID-19. Your support is most critical and essential in saving both lives and livelihoods. Gavi AMC is an equitable instrument to help protect low-income economies and return them to normalcy. Gavi’s global leadership in vaccines and vaccination program is highly appreciated. DCVM’s have developed several vaccines and are scaling up and scaling out to deliver several billion doses during 2021 and 2022, to support both global health and economic security.”
Thomas Cueni, Director General, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA): “Despite a massive effort to scale up and produce billions of vaccine doses, COVID-19 vaccines currently are not equally reaching all priority populations worldwide. In response, we announced the “Five steps to urgently advance COVID-19 vaccine equity”, where we commit to working with governments and non-governmental organizations including COVAX, to support stepping up dose sharing. Since launching the “Five Steps” on 19 May, several vaccine manufacturers have made new commitments for COVAX totaling over 3,5 billion doses over the next 18 months; in addition to previous 800 million doses pledged to date.”
Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson: “No one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is protected, and we have been steadfast in our goal to facilitate equitable, worldwide access to our single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. Our recent partnership with Gavi seeks to ensure that our COVID-19 vaccine is accessible to everyone, everywhere and through COVAX and the Advance Market Commitment we have the potential to protect up to 500 million people from COVID-19.”
Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax: “Novavax is proud to partner with Gavi, CEPI, and other collaborators worldwide in our collective mission to deliver the large numbers of vaccine doses needed to vaccinate all countries, regardless of income level. We look forward to playing our role in ending the pandemic for all, and appreciate the contributions of the organizations working to make this a reality.”
Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India: “We are committed to extending our support in ensuring equitable access to affordable vaccines globally. COVAX is the solution that will enable us to reach out to the remotest areas of the world and also help to curb the spread of the pandemic. As soon as the situation in India improves, we hope to resume supplies to COVAX over the next few months.”
Michael Froman, Vice Chairman and President of Strategic Growth, Mastercard: “An inclusive recovery is going to take collective action across sectors to ensure vaccines reach everyone. Our contribution of more than $25 million to Gavi will not only support the core work of COVAX but will also assist, through the Mastercard Wellness Pass, with the rollout and delivery of vaccines across developing countries, including to remote and marginalized communities. By combining the strengths of businesses, governments, development organizations, and NGOs, we can move faster and farther together.”
Olivia Khalili, VP Global Social Impact & Philanthropy, PagerDuty: “We must take a global and proactive approach to ensure that all individuals can access life-saving vaccines now, and with urgency. This requires nothing short of a truly collective response [across industries and borders] to equitably deliver 2 billion doses by early 2022. Working to meet urgent needs faster to advance justice and health, PagerDuty is proud to support Gavi, COVAX, and its network of front-line distribution partners to meet this goal and safeguard the lives of those most at-risk.”
Rick Deurloo, Senior Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, Pratt & Whitney: “As leaders in the global aviation industry and as global citizens, Pratt & Whitney wants to ensure that anyone who wants a vaccine can access it regardless of the country they live in. Our donation to COVAX AMC is a reflection of this commitment, and we encourage other aviation leaders to join us in support of Gavi and COVAX AMC.”
Clarke Murphy, CEO, Russell Reynolds Associates: “Many of us are fortunate to have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, allowing us to resume our pre-pandemic lives and safely spend time with those we love, but so many in our world are not as lucky. By working with Go Give One and the Gavi Alliance, we can help provide vaccines to those in our world who have not had the opportunity to protect themselves from this terrible disease. As leaders in business and our communities, we must take action to help those in need. The pandemic is not over for everyone, but hopefully, with this effort, we can bring safety and peace of mind to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.”
Ebony Beckwith, CEO of the Salesforce Foundation and Chief Philanthropy Officer at Salesforce: “Partnership is one of the most powerful drivers of innovation and impact. I’m inspired to see so many companies join together to address vaccine inequity. Through the Go Give One campaign in support of Gavi and COVAX AMC, everyone can play a role in connecting millions of people to vaccines globally.”
Erin Reilly, Chief Social Impact Officer, Twilio: “Twilio believes the right communication at the right time can be incredibly powerful when it comes to informing, educating, and connecting the world’s population to COVID-19 vaccines. We’re honored to take the next step in our ongoing commitment to expand equitable vaccine access through our US$10M pledge to COVAX. COVAX is a remarkable collaboration across public and private sectors, and we look forward to partnering to build the path forward that will end this pandemic.”
Phyllis Kurlander Costanza, UBS Head of Social Impact, CEO UBS Optimus Foundation: “COVAX has the power to alleviate immediate health crises in places like India, to prevent future outbreaks, and to help bring equality in healthcare to the forefront. This is why UBS is pleased to partner with organizations like Gavi, enabling us to maximize our impact.”
Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, Founder and Chairman of Vaccine Forward: “We are incredibly grateful to all the thousands of people, start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses who have donated to the COVAX AMC through Vaccine Forward’s user-friendly, open-source platform.”
Dr Githinji Gitahi, Group Chief Executive Officer of AMREF Health Africa said: “We cannot risk prolonging this pandemic a day longer. With enough global support for COVAX, we can ensure vaccines are accessible to those that need them the most – across the continent and the world.”
Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said: “The value of COVID-19 vaccines in breaking chains of transmission, preventing hospitalization, and saving lives in countries that have access to them is now indisputable. But the devastating surge of cases in India is a sobering and terrifying reminder of what this virus is capable of. To end the acute phase of the pandemic as quickly as possible we must empower COVAX to deliver to its full potential by sharing doses urgently, unblocking supply chains, and crucially enabling COVAX to buy more doses now for lower-income countries by fully funding the Advance Market Commitment. If we don’t, we will leave billions behind.”
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General: “Vaccinating the world relies on full support for COVAX. Fully financing the Advance Market Commitment is not charity. Only by working together can we end the pandemic and start building back our global community,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “This June, we must build on the momentum from this summit to secure COVAX the doses and funds needed to overcome its immediate supply gap and continue to build a sustainable pipeline into the future.”
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said: “As we approach mid-year, we’re seeing a catastrophic surge across India and South Asia – a disaster for children and families relying on already fragile health systems, and for the world, which now faces a shortage of available vaccines,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “COVAX still represents the best pathway out of the global pandemic. But this vital lifeline now needs one of its own. We need countries to fully fund the COVAX Advance Market Commitment and dedicate funding for vaccine rollouts.”
Article first published on https://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/world-leaders-unite-commit-global-equitable-access-covid-19-vaccines
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