Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the G7 communique of 13 June 2021, what estimate he has made of when global vaccine coverage will reach (a) 60 per cent and (b) 70 per cent.

Recognising the urgent need to speed up the delivery of doses, at the G7 Summit G7 leaders committed to sharing at least 870 million doses over the next year, and to make these doses available as soon as possible, taking the G7’s total commitment to one billion doses since our first UK Presidency meeting. The G7 will aim to deliver at least half of these by the end of 2021, primarily channelled through COVAX towards those in greatest need.

COVAX aims to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses to at least 30% of the adult population in low and middle-income countries by early 2022. A World Health Organisation (WHO) managed process is underway, which will recommend the level of coverage needed to achieve different immunisation goals in different country settings. We have UK representatives on the task team guiding this process, and will build on the Summit's commitments by continuing to engage internationally, including with our G7 partners, on plans that support the ambitious global vaccination targets agreed by the G7. These include efforts to increase supply by working with industry to boost vaccine manufacturing, develop future strategies to support COVAX, and develop more sustainable approaches to financing vaccines, as well as wider future pandemic preparedness.