Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the COVAX commitment, what estimate he has made of the cost to South Africa of purchasing the AstraZenica covid-19 vaccine.

The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, and is supporting this by committing £548 million to the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment. Our commitment will contribute to the supply of at least 1.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 for up to 92 developing countries.

COVAX has an advance purchase agreement with AstraZeneca for 170 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate at non-profit pricing. This is in addition to an existing agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII) for 200 million doses, with options for up to 900 million more doses more, of either the AstraZeneca/Oxford or Novavax vaccines. The agreement with SII will see any combination of these vaccines being made available at a price no greater than US$3/dose. South Africa has a bilateral deal with SII outside of COVAX. The terms and conditions of bilateral deals are a matter for individual countries and their suppliers.