About US$2.4 billion (S$3.2 billion) and 54 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines were pledged yesterday by around 40 world and business leaders to the Covax facility, which will give lower-income countries a better shot at protecting themselves.
They were led by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's pledge of US$800 million at the virtual Covax Advance Market Commitment (AMC) summit, co-hosted by Japan and the Gavi vaccine alliance, which coordinates Covax, the facility to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines.
"To overcome the crisis we now face, we need solidarity and commitment," said Mr Suga, noting the challenge "cannot be met by one country alone".
Responding to the rallying call were countries such as the United States and the Philippines, as well as not-for-profit entities like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Companies such as Toyota Tsusho, the trading arm of Japan's Toyota Group, and UBS Bank also made donations.
Gavi Board chair Jose Manuel Barroso said that with yesterday's donations, contributions in total added up to US$9.6 billion for the procurement of vaccines and US$775 million for their delivery.
The total number of doses donated by countries with a surplus now amount to more than 132 million. Before the summit yesterday, the Covax initiative had already raised US$7 billion. The pledges exceed the shortfall of US$1.3 billion estimated by Gavi to secure the 1.8 billion doses needed to inoculate 30 per cent of the population in 92 low-income countries by the end of the year.
The summit noted that more than 80 per cent of vaccine doses administered thus far have been in developed countries, leaving developing countries in the dust with just 0.4 per cent of vaccine doses.
"We must not allow a country's specific situation or economic power to determine its access to vaccines," said Mr Suga, as he noted the importance of the Covax facility, which has delivered more than 76 million doses to over 120 countries so far.
Japan's pledge of US$800 million comes on top of a previous donation of US$200 million.
Mr Suga said Japan intends to provide around 30 million doses of domestically manufactured vaccines to Covax, with the research and development of vaccines in Japan set to form a key plank in a national strategy against future pandemics announced on Monday.
Universal inoculation is important given the interconnection of the global economy, and the unequal availability of vaccines has exposed a chasm between the haves and the have-nots.
Scientists said an equitable roll-out worldwide is key to ending the pandemic, with the global community only as strong as its weakest link. Covid-19 continues to rage in Asia even as infections have fallen in countries like the US, Britain and Israel, where immunisation programmes have advanced.
But even rich countries may feel the fallout. The International Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation estimated a US$9.2 trillion loss to the global economy - about half of which would be shouldered by major economies - if vaccines were not delivered to low-income countries.
The Rockefeller Foundation said on Tuesday: "As Covid-19 circulates freely in the alleys of Old Delhi and barrios of Sao Paulo, it is rapidly evolving into more infectious and deadly variants that could boomerang back onto wealthy nations and sicken and kill those previously vaccinated."
Ms Eileen O'Connor, senior vice-president for communications, policy and advocacy at the foundation, told The Straits Times that while yesterday's commitment was a good start, it was still not enough to reach herd immunity in lower-income countries.
"For the global population to be protected, we need to vaccinate at least 60 per cent of populations. This is critically important to stop variants from spreading, breaking through current vaccines and leading to a never-ending cycle of the pandemic," she said, noting that the challenge was now to secure funding for next year.
She added that it was also essential to build up research and development, as well as manufacturing capacity, in lower-income countries to enable them to build self-reliance for future health crises.
