Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Joint COVAX Statement on Supply Forecast for 2021 and early 2022, published on 8 September 2021, whether he has plans he has to accelerate the donation of covid-19 vaccines from the UK's surplus to Covax in the context of a global shortfall of doses.

The Prime Minister has committed that the UK will donate 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses within the next year, including a total of 30 million by the end of 2021. Decisions on which vaccines will be shared will be based on the continued reliability of supply chains, regulatory restrictions, and advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

In addition to sharing 10.3 million doses to date, which exceeds our target of donating 5 million doses by September, the UK has invested £71 million to join and strengthen the joint vaccine purchasing scheme, donating £548 million specifically to support access in lower-income countries through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment. Our early funding gave COVAX the purchasing power it needed to secure deals with manufacturers to supply internationally-approved vaccines for low and middle-income countries.