Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department is holding with stakeholders to help ensure equality of global access to covid-19 vaccines.

The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, and has committed £548 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), an international initiative managed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to support global equitable access to vaccines. This puts the UK among the COVAX AMC's largest bilateral donors. Our commitment will contribute to the supply of 1 billion doses to COVID-19 vaccines in up to 92 developing countries in 2021, vaccinating up to 500 million people. The AMC aims to start deliveries in the first quarter of 2021. The UK regularly engages with stakeholders on COVAX through its governance mechanisms, including the UK's seat on the Gavi Board.

The UK is also a founding member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a coalition of leading international organisations and partners, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), to drive accelerated development and access to new COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics. COVAX is the vaccine pillar of the ACT-Accelerator. The UK is represented on the ACT-Accelerator Facilitation Council, and regularly engages with partners and stakeholders on strategic direction, resource mobilisation, and implementation. The UK has committed up to £813 million to ACT-Accelerator partners, including the COVAX AMC.