Covid alliance raises $2bn to distribute vaccine to poor countries
An alliance backed by the World Health Organization (WHO) has exceeded its target of raising more than $2bn (£1.5bn) to buy and distribute 1bn Covid-19 vaccines for poorer countries.
The Gavi Covax alliance today announced it will buy an initial 1bn doses for 92 eligible countries which would otherwise not be able to afford it.
Pledges for $360m by the European Commission, France, Spain, South Korea and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pushed fundraising above $2bn.
Gavi, a global vaccine alliance formed in 2000, brings together public and private sectors to provide vaccines for people living in the world’s poorest countries.
Its Covax project, co-led by WHO, aims to accelerate the development and distribution of coronavirus vaccines around the world.
The alliance needs to raise a further $5bn in 2021 to vaccinate key members and vulnerable people in countries ranging from Burundi to Vietnam, Gavi said in a statement.
“We’ve seen sovereign and private donors from across the world dig deep and meet this target and help ensure that every country will get access to Covid vaccines, not just the wealthy few,” Gavi chief Seth Berkley told reporters.
He added that there was an “urgent need” to finance treatments and diagnostics in the countries.
The Gavi boss said he welcomed Joe Biden’s White House victory, adding that he expected to hold talks with the president-elect over Covax plans.
“It’s positive that the incoming administration has already established a Covid-19 task force filled with many scientists we know are believers in science and moving this forward,” he said.
“The US is already one of Gavi’s biggest supporters, they care enormously about vaccines for the developing world. And I suspect that we will have continuing conversations about how we can collaborate with them,” he added.
It comes after US drugmaker Pfizer on Monday announced that its Covid vaccine being produced in collaboration with Biontech proved 90 per cent effective in trials.
But high-priced contracts with some of the world’s richest nations have propelled fears that poor countries will join the back of the queue for the vaccine.
Developed nations have ordered more than 80 per cent of the vaccine’s production capacity, according to campaign group Global Justice Now.
The two pharmaceutical companies this week said they had expressed an interest in supplying doses to the Covax alliance, according to Berkley.
“We continue to advance negotiations with a number of manufacturers in addition to those we’ve already announced who share our vision of fair and equitable distribution of vaccines,” he added.