Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK’s support to Tunisia’s covid-19 vaccination programme; and what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the provision of further support from the international community to that programme.

I discussed the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic with the Tunisian Foreign Minister, Othman Jerandi, in the margins of the G20 in Italy on 29 June. The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. We are among the largest donors to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Advance Market Commitment, committing £548 million. The UK is also donating 80% of its surplus vaccines to COVAX. This support to COVAX has been critical to it supplying COVID-19 vaccines to over 120 countries and economies, including Tunisia. By the end of June, Tunisia received over 760,000 doses from COVAX and will eventually receive 20% of their entire national requirement from COVAX absolutely free.