• Three countries in Africa will receive the first Canadian-donated doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – Nigeria (801,600 doses), Kenya (459,300) and Niger (100,800) – as part of an overall Canadian pledge of over 40 million doses to COVAX

  • Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: “As one of our strongest supporters, Canada has pledged over CAD 500 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment and will donate over 40 million vaccine doses. We are delighted to see Canadian doses reach people who need them the most, and this underlines Canada’s commitment to leave no-one behind and get vaccines in arms. We know that Canada is committed to helping everyone, everywhere recover from the pandemic, and to strengthening health systems.”

Geneva, 2 September 2021 – The first shipments of Canada’s pledge of over 40 million doses to COVAX are arriving today, with Nigeria (801,600 doses), Kenya (459,300) and Niger (100,800) the first to receive deliveries of Canadian-donated doses. This comes alongside a pledge of CAD 440 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment for procurement of vaccines and CAD 75 million for readiness and delivery by the Government of Canada (including CAD 5 million for operationalization of the COVAX dose sharing mechanism), making Canada one of the largest donors to COVAX. An additional CAD 30 million was reallocated from the sunsetting Pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment in 2020 to help launch the COVAX AMC. The Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, has served as one of the three co-chairs of the AMC Engagement Group.

Canada has long been a strong supporter of global public health and shown longstanding commitment to multilateralism, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in a co-operative and collaborative way by tackling inequity. Since its inception, Canada has contributed CAD 1.3 billion to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, of which COVAX is the vaccine pillar. With this dose donation, Canada takes another step to protect vulnerable populations around the world. In addition, since 2002 Canada has contributed over CAD 1 billion through Gavi and is a founding donor of the Pneumococcal Advance Market Commitment.

“As one of our strongest supporters, Canada has pledged over CAD 500 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment and will donate over 40 million vaccine doses,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “We are delighted to see Canadian doses reach people who need them the most, and this underlines Canada’s commitment to leave no-one behind and get vaccines in arms. We know that Canada is committed to helping everyone, everywhere recover from the pandemic, and to strengthening health systems.”

These doses donated by Canada are produced by the AstraZeneca manufacturing network. Donating through COVAX helps to increase vaccine coverage, ensures that no dose goes to waste, and helps to bring an end to the acute phase of the pandemic. 

Gavi and COVAX partners are working with governments to overcome legal and logistical hurdles to turn pledges totalling over 600 million doses into deliveries, to ensure that doses can reach countries quickly in the weeks and months to come. Over 100 million donated doses have already been delivered.

Notes to editors

About COVAX

COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO – working in partnership with UNICEF and PAHO as delivery partners, developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both high-income and lower-income countries.

About Gavi’s role in COVAX

Gavi leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX: designing and managing the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its traditional Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery. As part of this role, Gavi hosts the Office of the COVAX Facility to coordinate the operation and governance of the mechanism as a whole, holds financial and legal relationships with 193 Facility participants, and manages the COVAX Facility deals portfolio: negotiating advance purchase agreements with manufacturers of promising vaccine candidates to secure doses on behalf of all COVAX Facility participants. Gavi also coordinates design, operationalisation and fundraising for the Gavi COVAX AMC, the mechanism that provides access to donor-funded doses of vaccine to 92 lower-income economies. As part of this work, Gavi provides funding and oversight for UNICEF procurement and delivery of vaccines to all AMC participants – operationalising the advance purchase agreements between Gavi and manufacturers – as well as support for partners’ and governments work on readiness and delivery. This includes tailored support to governments, UNICEF, WHO and other partners for cold chain equipment, technical assistance, syringes, vehicles, and other aspects of the vastly complex logistical operation for delivery. Gavi also co-designed, raises funds for and supports the operationalisation of the AMC’s no fault compensation mechanism as well as the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer.

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 lower-income 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.

Media Contacts

Evan O’Connell
+41 79 682 18 95
eoconnell@gavi.org

Meg Sharafudeen
+41 79 711 55 54
msharafudeen@gavi.org

Laura Shevlin
+ 41 79 529 92 87
lshevlin@gavi.org

Iryna Mazur
+41 79 429 3671
imazur@gavi.org

Cirũ Kariũki
+41 79 913 94 41
ckariuki@gavi.org

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