The global vaccine group Gavi has announced a plan to top up its African vaccine funding scheme, with the goal of tackling bottlenecks and buying up to 70 million vaccine doses from manufacturers on the continent.
In 2024, the organisation launched the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), which will make up to $1.2 billion available over 10 years for the sustainable growth of Africa’s vaccine manufacturing.
On Friday (May 15), Gavi announced that it would ask its board to approve an additional $198 million in spending for a follow-up to the scheme, to be known as AVMA+.
“We believe that the new investments enabled by AVMA+ will accelerate the timelines for when African demand for vaccines will be met by local production,” said Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar in a media statement.
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AVMA was launched following the COVID-19 pandemic to build vaccine manufacturing in Africa, after thousands died on the continent while rich countries hoarded vital vaccine supplies.
Since then, international aid has shrunk as the US, previously the world’s biggest overseas aid donor, withdrew its support for the World Health Organization and shuttered its overseas aid agency USAID.
Under AVMA, vaccine manufacturers in Africa will get a payout once an eligible vaccine obtains WHO prequalification, a clearance issued by the WHO after it has checked that vaccines are safe and effective.
Gavi, a public-private partnership which brings together developing country and donor governments, along with UN agencies and private philanthropies, said the first cash disbursement under AVMA is expected to be made to an African vaccine manufacturer in the second half of this year.
“In its first 18 months, AVMA has made remarkable progress, helping secure 13 individual technology transfer agreements that have led to commercial-scale manufacturing facilities being built in six African countries,” added Nishtar.
“This is the right thing to do for Africa’s economic development and it is the right thing to do for our global health security.”
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