Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had about the global distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. The UK has committed £548 million to the COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) - the international initiative to support global equitable access to vaccines, of which the UK is one of the largest bilateral donors. Through match funding, the commitment encouraged other donors to commit $1 billion by the end of 2020. Our commitment will contribute to the supply of at least 1.3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 for up to 92 developing countries, with their delivery to start shortly. The Prime Minister has also now confirmed that we will share the majority of any future surplus vaccines from our supply with COVAX.

The UK regularly engages stakeholders on the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The UK participates in COVAX decision making through its governance mechanisms, including the UK's seat on the Gavi Board. The UK is also a founding member of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator - a coalition of leading international organisations and partners led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to accelerate development and access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. COVAX is the vaccine pillar of the ACT-Accelerator. The UK attends the ACT-Accelerator Facilitation Council and engages regularly with its partners and stakeholders on its strategic direction.