• The funding will support the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which aims to secure doses of COVID-19 vaccines for 92 low- and middle-income countries and economies at the same time as wealthier nations

• The Gavi COVAX AMC forms part of the COVAX Facility, a mechanism hosted by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, designed to guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for both higher-income and lower-income countries

Geneva, 28 August 2020 – The Australian Government will contribute AU$ 80 million to Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a financing instrument aimed at supporting the participation of 92 lower- and middle-income economies in the COVAX Facility, ensuring that the world’s poorest people do not miss out on safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.

“We welcome Australia’s contribution, which will help us ensure that every economy, particularly the poorest nations, don’t get left behind in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine,” said Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Gavi Board. “This disease has spread at lightning speed across the globe, which means nobody is safe until everybody is safe. That’s why we now need support and vital funding to ensure that, once a safe, effective vaccine is ready, we can work on protecting the world and not just the lucky few.”

The Gavi COVAX AMC has raised more than US$ 600 million against an initial target of securing the US$ 2 billion seed funding that is needed from sovereign donors, as well as philanthropy and the private sector, by the end of 2020. Funding the Gavi COVAX AMC will be critical to ensuring that ability to pay does not become a barrier to accessing COVID-19 vaccines, a situation which would leave the majority of the world unprotected, and allow the pandemic and its impact to continue unabated. The list of 92 AMC-eligible economies includes all economies with Gross National Income (GNI) per capita under US$ 4,000 plus other World Bank International Development Association (IDA)-eligible economies, including countries in the Pacific and South-East Asia. 

“We know that international investment in vaccine manufacturing and procurement is stronger when nations work together,” said Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Marise Payne. “We also know that early access to vaccines will play a critical role in the economic recovery of all countries – including our Pacific family and regional partners.”

The COVAX Facility is coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO and forms a key part of COVAX – the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a unique global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines. The overall aim of COVAX is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. It aims to achieve this by sharing the risks associated with vaccine development and by pooling procurement and purchasing power to achieve sufficient volumes to end the acute phase of the pandemic by the end of 2021.

So far 80 higher-income economies, which would finance the vaccines from their own public finance budgets and which includes Australia, have submitted Expressions of Interest. They will partner with 92 low- and middle-income countries that will be supported by the AMC if it meets its funding targets. Together, this group of 172 countries represents more than 70% of the world’s population. Among the group are representatives from every continent and more than half of the world’s G20 economies.

Media Contacts

Meghana Sharafudeen, Gavi
Phone:  +41 79 711 55 54
Email: msharafudeen@gavi.org 

Iryna Mazur, Gavi
Phone:  +41 22 909 2920
Email: imazur@gavi.org