Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of supplying enough vaccines to inoculate all poor nations against covid-19; whether there is a gap between his latest estimate and the international plans in place to meet that cost; and if he will make a statement.

The UK has led in supporting global access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines from the outset of the pandemic. We are working with the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and the Multilateral Leaders Taskforce (the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization) to assess the financing needed to supply and deliver vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. These costs are dependent on a variety of uncertainties, including the potential need for booster doses and in-country delivery costs. The ACT-A investment case will shortly publish the estimated costs required to meet global vaccination targets in 2022 and how these can be met.

The UK is among the largest donors to the COVAX AMC, committing £548 million. Over 378 million vaccines have been delivered globally through COVAX to 144 participants. The UK's G7 Presidency secured agreement from leaders to support vaccinating the world in 2022 and to share and finance an additional 1 billion doses over the next year to accelerate vaccine roll-out. The UK committed to share 100 million doses, with 80% going to COVAX. Over 10 million doses have been delivered, with over 6 million doses shared through COVAX. The UK is committed to work with International Financial Institutions who have a central role in sustainably financing the supply and delivery of vaccines.