• The signed advance purchase agreement (APA) is for a commitment to purchase 200 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, with the goal of them being made available to the COVAX Facility in 2021

  • Doses will be delivered to self-financing participants of the COVAX Facility as well as lower-income economies eligible to be supported by the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC)

  • Gavi CEO Seth Berkley: “This agreement means the COVAX Facility is able to offer participants yet another safe and effective tool against the pandemic. I welcome Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to equitable access and to expanding global manufacturing. As a one dose vaccine, the J&J vaccine has particular relevance for places with difficult infrastructure, making it a very important addition to the portfolio.”

Geneva, 21 May 2021 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance announced today that it has signed an advance purchase agreement with Johnson & Johnson for its single-dose vaccine against COVID-19. The agreement is for a commitment to purchase 200 million doses on behalf of the COVAX Facility, with the goal of them being supplied to Facility participants in 2021.

Supply of the vaccine will be available to both self-financing and Gavi COVAX AMC-eligible participants. Gavi will continue to assess the COVAX Facility portfolio and participants’ needs and will remain in discussions with Johnson & Johnson on potential supply of 300 million additional doses in 2022. 

“Today’s agreement between Gavi and Johnson & Johnson means the COVAX Facility is able to offer participants yet another safe and effective tool against the pandemic. I welcome Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to equitable access and to expanding global manufacturing through external partnerships, which is something that will provide long-lasting benefits even after this pandemic is over,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. “As a one-dose vaccine, the J&J vaccine has particular relevance for places with difficult infrastructure, making it a very important addition to the portfolio.” 

The COVAX Facility portfolio, administered by Gavi, currently consists of agreements related to 8 vaccines and vaccine candidates – AstraZeneca/Oxford, Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, SII-Covishield, SII-Covovax, and Sanofi/GSK – with the aim to expand to 10-12 vaccines in total, providing participants access to a diverse range of vaccines suitable for use in varied contexts and settings.

“Since the earliest days of the pandemic, we have been steadfast in our goal to facilitate equitable access to our COVID-19 vaccine,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson. “No one is safe from COVID-19 until everyone is protected, and our partnership with Gavi is the single greatest step we have taken to ensure our single-shot vaccine is accessible to everyone, everywhere. Our commitment today offers the potential to protect up to 500 million people from COVID-19.”

In order to continue diversifying and expanding the portfolio, and secure access to early supply in the future, Gavi is seeking to raise at least an additional US$1.6 billion for the COVAX AMC. This will allow Gavi, on behalf of the COVAX AMC, to lock in as many as 1.8 billion doses of vaccine for its 92 lower-income economies. As part of this effort, the Government of Japan will be hosting the upcoming Gavi COVAX AMC Summit, bringing together world leaders, the private sector, civil society and key technical partners in a virtual event on June 2nd.

In addition to doses secured via agreements with manufacturers, Gavi and its COVAX partners the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the World Health Organization and UNICEF also call on the international community to share doses with COVAX immediately to help those countries that have been worst hit by current global supply constraints and urgently need to protect their most at-risk populations.

Notes to editors

More information on COVAX is available here.

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 is leading on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX: coordinating the design, implementation and administration of the COVAX Facility and the COVAX AMC and working with its 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, manages relationships with Facility participants, and negotiates advance purchase agreements with manufacturers of promising vaccine candidates to secure doses on behalf of the 190 economies participating in the COVAX Facility. 

It also coordinates design, operation and fundraising for the COVAX AMC that supports 92 lower-income economies, including a no-fault compensation mechanism that will be administered by WHO. As part of this work, Gavi supports governments and partners on ensuring country readiness, providing funding and oversight of UNICEF procurement of vaccines as well as partners’ and governments work on readiness and delivery. This includes support for cold chain equipment, technical assistance, syringes, vehicles, and other aspects of the vastly complex logistical operation for delivery.

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

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

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

Evan O’Connell
+33 6 17 57 21 26
eoconnell@gavi.org

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

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

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