$ 4.3 bn new investments up total funds for ACT Accelerator to $10.3 bn

22 / 02 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

G 7 leaders have committed $ 4.3 billion new investments to the Access to COVID-19 Tools ACT Accelerator which is meant to ensure equitable access to tests, treatments and vaccines in 2021.

The funds allocated by the US, Germany, the European Commission, Japan, and Canada upped the total funds allocated for ACT Accelerator to a total of $ 10.3 billion, leaving a funding gap of $ 22.9 billion to fully fund the ACT Accelerator’s work in 2021.

Commitments made at the Virtual G7 leaders meeting hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and at the Munich Security Conference, signaled significant progress in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic with an important underscoring of the need for global equity in access to test, treatments, and vaccines.

Leaders recognized that no country can be safe until every country is safe and collectively committed over $4.3 billion to the ACT Accelerator partnership to develop and distribute effective tests, treatments, and vaccines around the world.

The US committed initial $2 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for the COVAX Advance Market Commitment and a further $2 billion through 2021 and 2022, of which the first $500 million will be made available when existing donor pledges are fulfilled and initial doses are delivered to AMC countries.

Germany committed $ 1.8 billion with contributions to all pillars and partners of the ACT Accelerator across tests, treatments, vaccines, and health systems strengthening.

The European Commission committed $ 363 million for the COVAX Advance Market Commitment.

Japan committed $ 79 million for the COVAX Advance Market Commitment and UNITAID. Canada committed $ 59 million to the ACT Accelerator

In addition, the European Investment Bank is providing a further $ 242 million in loan guarantees which will help the ACT Accelerator partnership to frontload future payments to speed up the response.

The UK’s commitment to join Canada, France, Norway and the European Union in sharing its additional vaccine doses with developing countries is a vital step to increase volume of vaccines available worldwide and support rapid reduction of virus transmission amongst some of the world’s most vulnerable and exposed populations.

The ACT Accelerator initial needs for 2020-2021 were $38.1 billion. Prior to these newly allocated funds, an unprecedented mobilization of sovereign donors, private sectors, philanthropic and multilateral contributors had already committed $ 6 billion.

The next few weeks will be critical for the global COVID-19 response. Further commitments are needed to fully fund the work of the ACT Accelerator and enable the delivery of more than 2 billion doses of vaccine; medical oxygen and millions of treatment doses including dexamethasone and new products, as and when they become available; and over 900 million diagnostic tests including high-quality, lower-cost molecular tests, antigen detection RDTs (Ag-RDTs) and self-tests.

This work will also support the urgent need for rapid R&D, product evaluation, and regulatory pathways for new and modified tests, treatments and vaccines to meet the needs of global response programs and the threat of new and emerging variants.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, said: “I thank the US, Germany, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, Japan, and Canada for their significant funding commitments. Today’s news shows us solidarity prevails; we can turn a corner on this pandemic by funding the only global solution to end it. History will judge us collectively and I welcome the words of support from today’s G7 Leaders and the Munich Security Council for again highlighting to the world that we have to solve this together.”