The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced, on Thursday 12 November, during the Paris Peace Forum (see EUROPE 12599/29) that the EU would provide an additional grant of €100 million to support the COVAX mechanism to ensure access to the future Covid-19 vaccine in low- and middle-income countries.
These grants come from the general reserve of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) and will take the form of a grant to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, in its capacity as administrator of COVAX.
These funds will complement the €400 million in guarantees that the European Union has already committed for COVAX (see EUROPE 12549/3).
In total, the EU and the Member States are mobilising more than €870 million for COVAX, including an additional €100 million from France, €50 million from Spain and €2 million from Finland, it was announced on Thursday.
The €400 million guarantee was also signed on 12 November. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)