Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, welcomes the announcement by the United States Government of its strategy for global vaccine sharing, which sets out how it will provide at least 80 million doses of vaccines to the rest of the world – with the announcement of the first tranche of 25 million doses.

75% of doses will be shared with COVAX, the global equitable access mechanism. This means that almost 19 million doses allocated in this first tranche will be provided to countries and territories around the world hit hard by global supply constraints.

“This announcement allows us to quickly get more doses to countries in a strained global supply climate – meaning frontline workers and at-risk populations will receive potentially life-saving vaccinations and bringing us a step closer to ending the acute phase of the pandemic,” Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley commented.

This announcement will help to increase vaccine coverage, ensure that no dose goes to waste. Gavi also co-hosted the AMC Summit alongside the Government of Japan. The Summit secured a total of US$ 2.4 billion additional funding for the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC) AMC, bringing total funding to US$ 9.6 billion, enough to procure and deliver 1.8 billion doses of vaccines for 92 lower-income economies. In December, the United States pledged US$ 4 billion in funding to the Gavi COVAX AMC over 2021 and 2022.

Gavi urges all countries that have vaccines to share them with COVAX urgently to boost short-term supplies and minimize the ability for the virus to proliferate and mutate further.