Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to tackle the inequality of COVID-19 vaccines available in low income countries.

The UK is committed to equitable, global vaccine access and is working with international partners to increase global supply and bring the acute phase of the pandemic to an end. The UK has committed to share 100 million doses, at least 80% of which will go through COVAX. This commitment is part of a G7 agreement to share at least 870 million doses by mid-2022. We have already delivered 10.8 million AstraZeneca doses to recipient countries. COVAX is currently processing a further 11 million AstraZeneca doses for allocation and delivery. An additional 9 million AstraZeneca doses will be sent to COVAX in the coming weeks.

This is on top of the UK's £548 million support for COVAX's Advance Market Commitment, which has helped COVAX deliver over 537 million vaccines to low-and-middle-income countries and will aim to supply up to 1.8 billion doses by early 2022. The UK and COVAX partners are working with country governments to ensure that their health systems are well-prepared to deliver vaccines to priority groups, such as health workers. This includes engaging with communities to address vaccine hesitancy, build confidence and encourage uptake.