Commonwealth: Coronavirus

(asked on 15th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they are providing to smaller Commonwealth nations to access COVID-19 (1) tests, and (2) vaccines.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 24th December 2020

The UK is committed to rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines, treatments and tests globally as demonstrated by our strong support for the Access for COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, to which the UK has contributed up to £813 million of new funds. This includes up to £23 million committed to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), to drive innovation in the development and delivery of tests to combat major diseases affecting the poorest populations. Our contribution also includes the UK's commitment of up to £500 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines. On top of our existing contribution of £48 million re-programmed from existing Gavi programming, this makes the UK the COVAX AMC's largest bilateral donor. Our commitment will support access to COVID-19 vaccines for up to 92 developing countries, including in the Commonwealth, by contributing to the supply of 1 billion doses in 2021, and vaccinations for up to 500 million people (subject to vaccines successfully securing stringent regulatory approvals).

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