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International Partnerships
News announcement2 March 2021Directorate-General for International Partnerships

Team Europe support to access to COVID-19 vaccines: Global roll-out of COVAX doses begins

Vaccination Côte d'Ivoire - COVAX

Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire were the first countries to receive and start administering COVID-19 vaccines provided by the Gavi COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC).

The AMC is a mechanism that enables low- and middle-income economies to access donor-funded doses of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. Team Europe – the European Union with its Member States and the European Investment Bank – is one of its leading contributors with over €2.2 billion pledged so far.

“This is a milestone in efforts to ensure equitable access to vaccines in partner countries, and a demonstration of global solidarity. No-one is safe until we all are”, Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said.

Ghana received 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine on 24 February and Côte d’Ivoire 504,000 doses two days later. Both countries swiftly started their vaccination campaigns, aimed at protecting health care workers.

These first deliveries marked the start of what will be the largest, most rapid and complex global roll-out of vaccines in history. In the next days, 11 million more doses of COVAX COVID-19 vaccines are being delivered around the world, in particular in Africa, Latin America and Asia. By the end of 2021, at least 1.3 billion COVAX doses should reach the 92 economies eligible for support through the AMC.

Details

Publication date
2 March 2021
Author
Directorate-General for International Partnerships