Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the challenges associated with the equitable and efficient international supply and distribution of a vaccine for covid-19.

On 27 June, the PM told Global Citizen’s international summit that world leaders have a moral duty to ensure that vaccines, treatments and tests are truly available to all. We are working with international partners, including industry, to agree collaborative approaches to supporting vaccine development, manufacturing scale-up and future distribution to meet both domestic and international needs.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to which we have provided £250 million this year, is committed to ensuring that appropriate vaccines are available to populations when and where they are needed, regardless of a country's ability to pay. CEPI selects vaccines for its portfolio based on their potential for success, rapid development and scalability. CEPI negotiates global access requirements as part of its funding agreements.

Through the COVAX partnership, under the Access to Covid Tools (ACT)-Accelerator, CEPI, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organization are working together to ensure that the vaccines are affordable and available equitably. As part of this, Gavi’s Advance Market Commitment (AMC) will incentivise vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient quantities of eventual COVID-19 vaccines and to ensure access for LMICs. The UK has contributed £48 million to the AMC.