Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of deploying additional diplomatic efforts to avoid large-scale wastage of covid-19 vaccines around the world.

The UK is deploying our diplomatic influence, development expertise and money to support COVAX, a multilateral mechanism that aims to deliver equitable access by pooling resources to accelerate the development, manufacture, and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines. The UK is working with COVAX, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, in support of country governments, to allocate vaccines according to need, to ensure rapid rollout of doses to priority groups and to prevent wastage. Ability to roll-out vaccines before they expire is a significant element of our planning of when and where the UK will deploy doses both domestically and with international partners. As part of the UK's G7 Presidency, we are working closely with the G7 to mobilise international financing, increase vaccine supply, build vaccine confidence and support in-country delivery, including through community mobilisation.