EC pledge: over €7.4 billion raised in funds for vaccines

The recent pledge announced by the European Commission to begin a globally coordinated response to Covid-19 has already raised €7.4 billion of its €7.5 billion target in just 24 hours since its launch. The initiative was officially launched yesterday by a joint effort from the European Commission and an alliance with various corporate giants who acted as signatories and investors in the scheme.

The pledge was announced last week, at the onset of World Immunisation Week 2020. The ultimate aim is to ensure the collaborative development and universal deployment of diagnostics, treatments and eventual production of vaccines against coronavirus.

EC president, Ursula von der Leyen said: “Today the world showed extraordinary unity for the common good. Governments and global health organisations joined forces against coronavirus. With such commitment, we are on track for developing, producing and deploying a vaccine for all.

“This is only the beginning. We need to sustain the effort and to stand ready to contribute more. The pledging marathon will continue. After governments, civil society and people worldwide need to join in, in the global mobilisation of hope and resolve.”

The pledging event was co-convened by the European Union, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Spain and the UK. It formed as a result of a call to action by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other such health firms to fund a global fight in curbing the spread and ultimately dealing with, the pandemic.

The EC has announced the initial pledge goal of €7.5 billion will not be enough to ensure the global distribution of Covid-19 health technologies. As a result, they will be continuing to raise funds past the initial goal to allow them to deal with the significant production and distribution costs needed.

The EC has also announced that it will be committing €1 billion in grants and €400 million in guarantees on loans in the reprioritisation of various companies and technologies to fully deal with coronavirus. These grants will be going to are Horizon 2020, RescEU and the Emergency Support Instrument, as well as various external instruments.

A further €100 million will be donated to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and €158 million will be going to the World Health Organization.

Donors are invited to continue pledging to the Coronavirus Global Response and can choose which area to donate to – Test, Treat or Prevent – with a further option to donate the horizontal workstream of the Response itself helping global health systems deal with the pandemic.

The EC has further announced its intention to release a breakdown of the funds, so donors and the public can view how the funds will be funnelled into each area.

This information should be revealed in the coming days.

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