• New Zealand makes a new contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ahead of next week’s Global Vaccine Summit

• The funding will support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in lower-income countries as well as the vaccination of thousands of children in vulnerable Pacific nations

• Ngozi Okonjo Iweala: “Recent measles outbreak in the Pacific shows how important it is that we keep immunisation programmes running despite the COVID-19 pandemic”

Geneva, 26 May 2020 – Gavi has welcomed the announcement by New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters that the country will commit NZ$ 7 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

The funding will help protect children in the most vulnerable Pacific nations against deadly diseases like measles, polio and cervical cancer, as well as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in lower-income countries.

The pledge marks New Zealand’s first contribution to a Gavi replenishment and comes less than two weeks ahead of the Global Vaccine Summit, hosted by the UK government on 4 June, which aims to raise at least US$ 7.4 billion for Gavi’s next five-year period.

“COVID-19 is proof on a global scale, of the devastation highly contagious illness can have when innocent populations are caught off guard,” Mr Peters said. “This funding has been targeted to support the vaccination of vulnerable children in our Pacific neighbourhood, protecting them from a number of high-risk diseases. The funding will also contribute to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic response more widely. It is the responsibility of every nation to work together to tackle COVID-19 and to prepare for, and minimise, any future disease outbreaks.”

"The measles outbreak in the Pacific last year is a stark reminder of how important routine immunisation is. This holds true especially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Gavi Board Chair. “By contributing to the Vaccine Alliance, today New Zealand is sending a strong message of solidarity to other nations and helping us to prevent the resurgence of other deadly, vaccine-preventable diseases. One pandemic is enough.”

Gavi currently supports the immunisation of children in four Pacific countries: Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

As well as continuing to support routine immunisation and vaccine campaigns in 68 countries, Gavi has made up to US$ 200 million available to help lower-income countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, US$ 71.3 million of which has been approved for 39 countries with acute needs. This funding is supporting the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), diagnostics and other vital medical equipment, as well as fund disease surveillance and communications activities.

“We are enormously grateful for this support, which will protect thousands of children against deadly disease,” said Dr Seth Berkley, Gavi CEO. “Not only that, this funding will also support our efforts to help health systems in some of the world’s poorest countries withstand the shock of COVID-19, both funding the PPE and diagnostics needed for countries to respond to this pandemic and helping to maintain the immunisation infrastructure needed to eventually deliver COVID-19 vaccines.”

Over the past two decades, Gavi has helped to immunise more than 760 million children, saving more than 13 million lives. Over that time, the Alliance has also worked to strengthen health systems in the world’s poorest countries and establish vaccine stockpiles against serious global health security threats, including Ebola.

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