Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help enable low-income countries to meet the Independent Allocation of Vaccines Group recommendation, published on 21 December 2021, on vaccinating 70 percent of all countries populations against covid-19 by mid-2022.

The UK is committed to ending the acute phase of the pandemic as soon as possible, and strongly supports the COVAX Facility as a key mechanism to deliver this. COVAX has now delivered over one billion vaccine doses to 144 countries and territories. The UK is among the largest donors to COVAX's Advance Market Commitment, committing £548 million to supply vaccines in up to 92 low and middle income countries. The UK has also donated more than 30 million doses, with millions more to be sent globally in 2022.

Many factors contribute to vaccination coverage levels, including supply, health system capacity and demand. The UK worked closely with the Independent Allocation of Vaccines Group established by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop WHO's global vaccination strategy and endorsed it at the G20 Leaders' Summit in October 2021. The UK recognises its recommendation for 70% vaccination coverage as well as its advice that countries need to set their own national targets based on local context and demographics.