LONDON: Gavi, the global vaccine organization, has requested $9 billion from governments and foundations to support immunization efforts in the world’s poorest nations over the next five years, it said on Thursday.
The amount was finalized during a meeting in Paris, where donors also began revealing commitments for Gavi’s plan for 2026-2030. Gavi informed that it had already secured $2.4 billion of the total amount, with ongoing fundraising efforts set to continue for several months. The United States contributed $1.58 billion to the cause.
Concurrently, a separate $1.2 billion initiative aimed at enhancing vaccine production in Africa, known as the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, was launched.
Gavi’s primary mission is to assist low-income countries in purchasing vaccines to combat life-threatening diseases. Since 2020, approximately one billion children have been immunized as a result of Gavi’s initiatives.
Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive of Gavi, expressed the organization’s ambition to accelerate its efforts and expand vaccine coverage. This includes scaling up the distribution of a malaria vaccine, which commenced in Cameroon this year, and resuming routine vaccination programs for diseases such as measles that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Reuters prior to the meeting, Nishtar emphasized Gavi’s goal of reaching the maximum number of children and protecting them against a wide array of diseases within the shortest timeframe possible.
Gavi aims to reach 500 million children in the next five years, including 50 million children with the malaria vaccine. While initial estimates from Gavi board documents suggested a funding requirement of up to $11.9 billion for its future work from 2026 onwards.
Nishtar mentioned that the remaining funds would be sourced from leftover COVID-19 financing and existing financial mechanisms within the organization. However, she acknowledged the current challenges faced by global health due to stretched aid budgets resulting from various global demands.
Furthermore, the organization intends to create a $500 million pandemic response fund to facilitate swift action during major outbreaks.
