Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to roll out the AstraZenica covid-19 vaccine to the developing world.

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), which is the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines, of which the UK is one of the largest bilateral donors. Our commitment helped encourage other donors to commit $1 billion by the end of 2020, and will contribute to the supply of at least 1.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 for up to 92 developing countries.

We are proud that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is in the COVAX portfolio. The UK invested over £88 million into its development, and it is a testament to the UK's global scientific leadership. The COVAX portfolio includes 170 million AstraZeneca doses. COVAX has now delivered more than 38 million doses across six continents, supplied by three manufacturers: AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and the Serum Institute of India (SII). Agreements with additional vaccine suppliers will be announced shortly. Of the over 100 economies reached, 61 are among the 92 lower-income economies receiving vaccines funded through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).