Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the (a) Prime Minister and (b) World Health Organisation to improve assistance to developing nations through provision of the covid-19 vaccine.

The UK is playing a leading role in international efforts to deliver rapid, equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. We are among the largest donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million, which leveraged $1 billion from other donors in 2020 through match-funding. This support to COVAX has been critical to it distributing COVID-19 vaccines to over 130 countries and economies, with its aim to provide up to 1.8 billion doses to low and middle-income countries by early 2022. The UK has also committed to sharing 100 million vaccine doses over the next year, with the majority going to COVAX.

The Prime Minister and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Ministers regularly discuss efforts to further boost global COVID-19 vaccination efforts with international partners. This includes the World Health Organisation (WHO), with Dr Tedros among those who addressed Leaders at the G7 Summit in June. The FCDO is supporting the WHO with £340 million in fully flexible core funding between 2020-2024 for its work on pandemics and emergencies, health systems, and institutional reform.