• The United States has approved US$ 4 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to ensure lower-income economies have equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines on the same urgent timeline as wealthier countries. These funds will help end this acute phase of the pandemic.

  • The United States also approved its Fiscal Year 2021 contribution of US$ 290 million for Gavi’s routine immunisation programmes. This funding is part of the multi-year pledge made to Gavi at the Global Vaccine Summit in June and will help provide life-saving vaccines to nearly half the world’s children.

  • Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi: “This support from the American people will help Gavi procure and deliver COVID-19 vaccine doses for lower-income economies through the Gavi COVAX AMC. It will also shorten this crisis, save lives and help restart the global economy. In today’s interconnected world, no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

Geneva, 28 December 2020 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance welcomes final approval of the United States’ commitment to provide the Alliance with US$ 4 billion in COVID-19 supplemental funding. These resources, which were included in a larger omnibus funding package, will ensure that lower-income economies have equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, helping to end the acute phase of the pandemic.

The United States also approved a contribution of US$ 290 million for Fiscal Year 2021 as part of its four-year pledge (2020 to 2023) for Gavi’s core programmes, which will enable Gavi to strengthen routine immunisation in lower-income countries, protecting millions of children from vaccine-preventable diseases. All the funding will be managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“We are enormously grateful to the United States, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate State, Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham and the committee’s Ranking Member Senator Patrick Leahy as well as the House State, Foreign Operations Subcommittee leaders, Chairwoman Nita Lowey and Ranking Member Hal Rogers for this historic funding to support global COVID-19 vaccine access and for their consistent commitment to providing lifesaving vaccines to children around the world,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. “If we can ensure greater access to COVID-19 vaccines globally, we will accelerate the end of the pandemic. This support from the American people will help Gavi procure and deliver COVID-19 vaccine doses for lower-income economies through the Gavi COVAX AMC. It will also shorten this crisis, save lives and help restart the global economy. In today’s interconnected world, no one is safe until everyone is safe.”

Gavi is supporting access to COVID-19 vaccines through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC), an innovative financing mechanism that aims to provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for 92 lower-income countries and economies. The Gavi COVAX AMC, combined with additional support for country readiness and delivery, will ensure the most vulnerable in all countries can be protected in the short term, regardless of income level. Of the 92 economies eligible for the Gavi COVAX AMC, 86 have so far submitted detailed vaccine requests, demonstrating strong global demand for COVID-19 vaccines via this mechanism.

The US$ 4 billion in supplemental funds and US$ 290 million for Gavi’s core programmes build on the U.S. Government’s role as a foundational and leading supporter of Gavi since its inception in 2000. In addition, Dr. Berkley noted that by building on Gavi’s long-standing reputation as one of the driving forces in global health, this new supplemental contribution from the United States will “help unlock critical assistance from other donors, which the Gavi COVAX AMC needs to put global vaccine production on the right trajectory and to strike a decisive blow against COVID-19.”

Given the wide-ranging impact of COVID-19, Dr. Berkley also urged the United States to consider future COVID-19 resources for other critical global health initiatives heavily impacted by the global pandemic. “We must deploy a full range of tools to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said, “and the many other challenges and disruptions it creates for health systems around the world.”


Media Contacts

Jeff Weintraub
+1 202 403 7695
jeff@weintraubcomms.com

James Fulker
+41 79 429 5505
jfulker@gavi.org

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