The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday 22 July that the European Union, its financial institutions and Member States (‘Team Europe’) will have delivered more than “200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to low- and middle-income countries by the end of the year”, mainly through the Covax Facility managed by the WHO, GAVI and CEPI.
Asked about the number of doses delivered so far, the Commission’s health spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said on Friday 23 July that the Commission was “in the process of making sure that this extremely strong commitment” is met.
He added: “As of 20 July, 4.9 million doses of vaccine have been shared, of which 1.5 million is through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, 1.9 million by several Member States, including France, Portugal, Sweden, via Covax, and 260,000 doses have been donated to the World Bank. The remainder will be given through direct donations”.
In May, at the Global Health Summit in Rome, the EU pledged 100 million shared doses by the end of 2021 (see EUROPE 12724/5). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)