Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking with international partners to (a) increase childhood immunisation rates, (b) make vaccine access more equitable and (c) support Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted global health and immunisation. The UK Government is supporting efforts to get routine immunisation back on track and has committed £1.65 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, from 2021-2025 to support their mission to immunise 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives from vaccine preventable diseases over this period. The UK has supported Gavi since its inception in 2000, during which time Gavi has vaccinated more than 1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, saving over 17 million lives. Alongside our Gavi investment, we are working with countries to build stronger primary health care systems as a core part of restoring immunisation services.