EU set to double COVAX vaccine funding to 1B euros

The European Commission plans to double the EU's contribution to the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVAX programme, bringing the 27-nation bloc's commitment to the initiative to deliver vaccines to poor nations to 1 billion euros (approx. 1.2 billion US dollars).

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen will make the proposal later Friday during a meeting of the leaders of the Group of Seven economic powers, EU commission chief spokesman Eric Mamer said.

Von der Leyen is also set to announce an additional 100 million euros (approx. 121.4 million US dollars) to support vaccination campaigns in Africa, in partnership with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The EU is one of the leading donors to the COVAX programme, which aims to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 shots for low-and middle-income countries.

COVAX hopes to deploy some 336 million doses by the end of June, and around 2 billion doses by the end of the year.

But the programme has already missed the goal of starting vaccination in poor countries at the same time that doses were rolled out in rich countries.