The Government of the People’s Republic of China (China) has pledged US$ 100 million to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC). The announcement, made at the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation, hosted by China, is the country’s largest voluntary pledge to an international organisation to-date.
This latest donor pledge brings the total amount raised for the Gavi COVAX AMC, the mechanism which enables supply of donor-funded vaccines to 92 low- and middle-income countries, to nearly US$ 10 billion – further reaffirming the role of COVAX as the only global, multilateral response focused on equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines regardless of income level.
“We welcome this contribution from China, which will enable further access to COVID-19 vaccines for the most at risk in low- and middle-income countries,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX and manages the COVAX Facility as well as the Gavi COVAX AMC. “In a time of vaccine inequity combined with the rising threat of variants, it is more important than ever for countries and manufacturers to come together to support COVAX in delivering on its vision of global equitable access.”
China first became a donor to Gavi in 2015, with US$ 25 million pledged in total to-date towards Gavi’s core work on routine immunisation.
“China will continue to do its best to help other lower income countries cope with the COVID-19 pandemic”, said President Xi Jinping of China, “and we stand ready to work with international organizations to advance vaccine cooperation to protect communities for a shared future.”
COVAX has delivered more than 188 million doses to 138 countries to date – the majority to lower-income countries supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC – with delivery of supplies secured both via COVAX Facility deals as well as dose donations picking up pace over the last few weeks.
COVAX anticipates supplying its participants with more than 2 billion doses by early 2022, including at least 1.8 billion donor-funded doses to be made available to AMC participants.
By GAVI, Press Release
Source: gavi.org
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