Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to support low-income countries to (a) receive and (b) safely administer covid-19 vaccines pledged by the UK.

The UK is committed to equitable and global vaccine access, and is working with international partners to increase global supply and end the acute phase of the pandemic. This is why the UK has committed to sharing 100 million doses with countries in need by mid-2022. To date, 10.6 million doses have been delivered bilaterally, and a further 10 million doses have been accepted by COVAX to be delivered in the coming weeks. This is on top of the UK's £548 million support for COVAX's Advance Market Commitment, which will aim to supply up to 1.8 billion doses for up to 92 low and middle-income countries by early 2022. COVID-19 vaccines donated through COVAX are administered by Gavi and their Alliance partners, who work with governments to ensure robust and transparent distribution and reporting plans are in place to ensure priority groups are reached. For UK bilateral donations, we have sought assurances from recipients that they have the capacity to roll out doses in line with National Deployment and Vaccination Plans.