COVAX Facility convenes first meeting of COVAX AMC engagement group

The COVAX AMC Engagement Group, composed of Gavi COVAX AMC participants, donors, and other stakeholders, forms a key component of Facility governance
Together with the COVAX Shareholders Council comprised of self-financing participants, all 187 economies participating in the COVAX Facility are represented in the Facility’s governance structure
Dr Seth Berkley: “The incredible level of participation at this milestone meeting is a testament to the spirit of multilateral collaboration that is driving COVAX.”

Geneva, 20 November 2020 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as co-lead of COVAX – along with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) – yesterday convened the first meeting of the COVAX AMC Engagement Group. The AMC Engagement Group, which is comprised of all AMC-eligible participants and donor governments and will be self-organising, is a key component of COVAX Facility governance. More than 500 participants, including high-level representatives from 101 economies, participated in the half-day virtual meeting.

The meeting was exceptionally co-chaired by Gavi Board member Lia Tadesse, Minister of Health of Ethiopia, and Gavi Board Vice-Chair Sarah Goulding, Assistant Secretary Global Development Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, pending appointments made by the AMC Engagement Group participants. Participants discussed updates on Facility progress, including the portfolio of promising vaccine candidates and preparations for country readiness and delivery, the organisational structure of the Group, and the process for finalising Terms of Reference and appointments – anticipated to occur over the next few weeks.

“Just one week after the generous support of donors helped us surpass the US$2 billion AMC fundraising target for 2020, the incredible level of participation at this milestone meeting is a testament to the spirit of multilateral collaboration that is driving COVAX,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi.

Gavi is coordinating the design and implementation of the COVAX Facility, a global mechanism which seeks to procure, equitably allocate and deliver 2 billion doses of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021. 95 higher-income economies have already signed up as self-financing members of the Facility, joining the 92 low-and middle-income economies who will have their participation supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. The COVAX AMC recently surpassed its 2020 fundraising target of US$2 billion, with at least US$5 billion more needed in 2021 to procure subsidised donor-funded doses of approved vaccines to vulnerable groups in AMC-eligible economies.

As part of the effort to ensure rapid, equitable access, Gavi is collaborating closely with Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO to work with countries to prepare to receive and deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines once they are available – including providing technical support for cold chain infrastructure and technical assistance. The COVAX Facility is also working closely with multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to ensure AMC participants have options to cost-share in order to procure doses beyond those that are donor-funded as well as to prepare for delivery.

The COVAX Facility is part of COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which is co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO – working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, the World Bank, civil society organisations and others. COVAX is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to economies of all financial means.

Notes to editors

An explainer of COVAX Facility governance is available here.

More information on COVAX is available here, and more information on the Gavi COVAX AMC is available here.

A full list of self-financing participants and AMC-eligible economies is available here.

The latest table of donor pledges to the Gavi COVAX AMC is available here.

About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 822 million children – and prevented more than 14 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching the unvaccinated children still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi’s work here.

About ACT-Accelerator

The Access to COVID-19 Tools ACT-Accelerator, is a new, ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines. It was set up in response to a call from G20 leaders in March and launched by the WHO, European Commission, France and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020.

The ACT-Accelerator is not a decision-making body or a new organisation, but works to speed up collaborative efforts among existing organisations to end the pandemic. It is a framework for collaboration that has been designed to bring key players around the table with the goal of ending the pandemic as quickly as possible through the accelerated development, equitable allocation, and scaled up delivery of tests, treatments and vaccines, thereby protecting health systems and restoring societies and economies in the near term. It draws on the experience of leading global health organisations which are tackling the world’s toughest health challenges, and who, by working together, are able to unlock new and more ambitious results against COVID-19. Its members share a commitment to ensure all people have access to all the tools needed to defeat COVID-19 and to work with unprecedented levels of partnership to achieve it.

The ACT-Accelerator has four areas of work: diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines and the health system connector. Cross-cutting all of these is the workstream on Access & Allocation.

Media Contacts

Meghana Sharafudeen, Media
+41 79 711 5554
msharafudeen@gavi.org

Gavi is an international organisation bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of saving lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable and sustainable use of vaccines.

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