The Bill Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a five-year, US$1.6 billion commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to deliver lifesaving vaccines to the world's poorest countries.
Global leaders unite to safeguard 300 million more children from disease and mitigate consequences of COVID-19
Funding secured today for Gavi's next strategic period will help the Alliance reach an additional 300 million children in the world's most vulnerable communities and save up to eight million lives, bringing the total number of children immunized with Gavi support to more than one billion since its inception in 2000.
In addition to supporting the continuation of routine immunization services during the current COVID-19 crisis, Gavi will play a vital role in efforts to end the pandemic, leveraging its two decades of experience in vaccine delivery to deploy potential COVID-19 vaccines to low income countries when they become available.
"Not many people outside the global health sector have heard about Gavi, but over the past twenty years, it has transformed the way the world invests in and protects the health of its children," said Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Gates Foundation is also committing $100 million to Gavi's new effort to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for lower income countries through a new COVID-19 Vaccine Advance Market Commitment.
