In a landmark agreement at G7 summit, held in Cornwall, UK, global leaders have pledged to share COVID-19 vaccine doses internationally, in support of global equitable access and to help end the acute phase of the pandemic.

Building on the momentum of the G20 Global Health Summit hosted by Prime Minister Draghi and President von der Leyen and the Gavi COVAX AMC Summit hosted by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan, G7 countries committed to share at least 870 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines directly, with the aim to deliver at least half by the end of 2021, and reaffirmed their support for COVAX as “the primary route for providing vaccines to the poorest countries.”

COVAX partners welcome this commitment, along with continued support for exporting in significant proportions, promotion of voluntary licensing and not-for-profit global production. COVAX will work with the G7 and other countries that have stepped up to share doses as rapidly and equitably as possible. This will help address short-term supply constraints currently impacting the global response to COVID-19 and minimize the prospect of future deadly variants.  

In anticipation of the large volumes available through the COVAX Facility deals portfolio later in the year, COVAX also urges multilateral development banks to urgently release funding to help countries prepare their health systems for large-scale rollout of vaccines in the coming months.