Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s efforts in ensuring accessibility and availability of covid-19 vaccines across the globe; and what steps he is taking to increase access to those vaccines in low-income countries.

The UK is committed to supporting global access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines and has played a leading role in driving international support for the COVAX Facility as an effective multilateral mechanism to deliver this. The UK was one of the earliest and largest donors to COVAX, committing £548 million to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment which, through match funding, leveraged $1 billion from other donors in 2020. Our early funding has been key to helping COVAX secure deals with manufacturers to supply up to 1.8 billion doses of safe and effective vaccines for up to 92 low- and middle-income countries by early 2022. The UK's investment in the research and development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has been a key contribution to the global vaccination effort and we are proud that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine forms a significant part of the COVAX portfolio in support of these efforts.

The Prime Minister also announced at the G7 that the UK will donate 100 million doses within the next year, 80% of which will go to COVAX to further support countries in need. We continue to work closely with the G7 and international partners on expanding and accelerating global access, including efforts to mobilise international financing, increase vaccine supply and support in-country delivery, including community mobilisation and efforts to build vaccine confidence, particularly in low-income countries.