Global cooperation and solidarity are paramount to effectively fight the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure early access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments everywhere.
No one will be safe until everyone is safe.
This is why the EU is leading the multilateral response to make sure no one is left behind. Health security and a sustainable global recovery depend on it.
Highlight
22 June 2022 - The European Commission and Spain launched a new EU – Latin America and Caribbean partnership on local manufacturing of vaccines, medicines and other health technologies, and strengthening health systems resilience. The partnership will complement and further enhance social, economic and scientific ties between the two regions.
Team Europe
Overall, the EU global response to the COVID-19 pandemic amounts to €46 billion from ‘Team Europe’, a joint action involving the EU, its Member States and European financial institutions.
These funds are helping more than 130 partner countries
- address the health emergency
- strengthen their health systems
- put in place water and sanitation measures
- mitigate the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic
Almost €10 billion are focused on strengthening key sectors to contain the crisis such as health, water and sanitation.
EU's Civil Protection Mechanism
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism has coordinated and co-financed the delivery of over 23 million items of personal protective and medical equipment to over 30 countries to support their COVID-19 response. 32 million vaccine doses have been delivered to 40 countries via the Mechanism.
Global Health Summit
At the Global Health Summit, G20 leaders committed to a series of actions to accelerate the end of the COVID-19 crisis everywhere and better prepare for future pandemics. The G20 underlined the importance of increased and diversified manufacturing and recognised the role of intellectual property in ensuring equity. The G20 clearly stressed the need to ensure equitable access to vaccines and to support low and middle-income countries.
Team Europe presented its concrete contributions to the summit, including its work with industrial partners, which are manufacturing vaccines in Europe, to rapidly make available vaccine doses for low and middle-income countries.
Support for local vaccine production
To boost manufacturing capacity in Africa and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies, Team Europe launched a €1 billion initiative on 21 May 2021 in support of the African Union’s goal of locally manufacturing 60% of the vaccines used on the continent by 2040, while strengthening local pharmaceutical systems.
The EU, in partnership with Spain, has also launched a partnership with Latin America and the Caribbean to support local manufacturing of vaccines, medicines and other health technologies, and to strengthen the resilience of health systems.
Pledging marathon
In May 2020, the Commission launched the Coronavirus Global Response – a pledging marathon to mobilise funds for research and the development of tests, treatments and vaccines.
With the goal of strengthening health systems and global recovery, donors from around the world committed close to €16 billion, including €1.4 billion from the Commission.
Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator
The World Health Organization, the EU and global health organisations launched in April 2020 the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. The aim is to
- accelerate development of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments
- ensure equitable global access to them
- strengthen health systems
The ACT-Accelerator brings together governments, scientists, civil society, charities and global health organisations. €23.06 billion have been pledged so far to support its work.
COVAX
COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), alongside UNICEF, a key delivery partner. It is the vaccine pillar of the ACT-Accelerator.
So far, €12.2 billion have been pledged in support of COVAX.
Over €5 billion from the EU’s Team Europe is bringing us closer to COVAX’s objective to make available 1.8 billion doses for the lower income economies.
On 24 February 2021, Ghana became the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped via the COVAX Facility. 600 000 doses of lifesaving vaccine arrived in Accra. President von der Leyen called it ‘a true and historic moment of global solidarity’.
By mid-June 2022, over 1.5 billion doses have been delivered to 145 countries thanks to COVAX.
EU vaccine-sharing mechanism
The EU vaccine-sharing mechanism allows 27 Member States to share EU purchased doses with third countries, including through COVAX.
By June 2022, EU Member States have shared more than 477 million doses for donation to countries around the world, exceeding our vaccine-sharing target. The large majority, around 407 million doses, have been shared via COVAX.
In addition, EU Member States have delivered 70 million doses through bilateral donations – for instance to our neighbours in the Western Balkans.
At this point, 62% of the world population is vaccinated. A large part of the doses necessary for these vaccinations were exported or shared by Europe. And we will do more.
We will step up our effort to support Africa where vaccination is lower than in other parts of the world.
This is why, at the Second COVID-19 Summit, President von der Leyen announced a further €300 million to accelerate the roll out and uptake of vaccines in Africa and an additional €100 million to enhance access and deployment of diagnostics, therapeutics and strengthen health systems in partner countries.
The Commission also envisages contributing €427 million ($450 million) to the Global Pandemic Preparedness Fund to support efforts to prevent and better respond to future pandemics, subject to agreement on its governance.
We will continue to work hand in hand with international partners such as the United States to step up vaccination efforts, strengthen global supply chains and local manufacturing and improve the global health security architecture.
Overall, Team Europe has committed to share 700 million doses by 2022. Our aim is to ensure that 70% of the world's population is vaccinated as soon as possible
Vaccine exports
Throughout the pandemic, the EU has remained fair and open to the world. Since December 2020, almost 2.5 billion vaccine doses have been exported to 168 countries.
The EU has been at the forefront of the work on the World Trade Organization's (WTO) response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, the Ministers agreed on a number of clarifications and a waiver of certain obligations of the TRIPS Agreement to allow eligible WTO Members to authorise a company to manufacture and export COVID-19 vaccines in a fast and simplified manner without the consent of the patent owner.