Support package for the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in Africa

A global pandemic requires a global solution. Therefore, the European Commission is committed to ensuring universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, including fragile and conflict settings.

In this context, acting together helps us protect more lives and relieve the already-stretched healthcare systems and workers.

Since the early days of COVID-19, the EU, its Member States, and European financial institutions came together as Team Europe to provide support in the fight against the pandemic.

So far, the EU global response to the COVID-19 pandemic amounts to €46 billion from Team Europe. This funding:

• provides emergency response to humanitarian needs
• strengthens health systems and crucial health services
• assists economic recovery and social support.

Team Europe is also one of the leading donors of the COVAX Facility, a global initiative aimed at ensuring equitable and fair access to COVID-19 vaccines to populations all over the world.

In February 2021, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced an additional €100 million in EU humanitarian assistance to support the rollout of vaccination campaigns in Africa, in cooperation with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Given its humanitarian nature, the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations manage this additional funding to ensure that no one is left behind.

As stated by Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, “ensuring equitable access to vaccines for vulnerable people, including in conflict-affected or hard-to-access areas, is a moral duty”.

This EU humanitarian initiative supporting the vaccination campaigns in Africa is implemented via 2 complementary tracks:

• The first track (with an allocation of €35 million) supports the rollout of the vaccination campaign in African countries. This includes building capacity of the national health systems, managing information on vaccination, and addressing critical logistical gaps.
  
  The approach supports public health actors, including the Africa CDC, and, in the longer term, seeks to reinforce national health systems’ resilience to address future epidemic outbreaks.
   
• The second track (with a current allocation of €60 million) supports the rollout of vaccination campaigns in specific humanitarian settings,notably in conflict and hard-to-reach areas. It is implemented closely with EU humanitarian partners through specific activities to support vaccination campaigns and create vaccine demand.

Remaining funding is reserved for future emergency needs.

This strong EU partnership with  leading agencies, like the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and humanitarian partners in the field:

• facilitates the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns
• ensures that the necessary technical expertise is in place
• increases capacity and resilience for future health emergencies.  

The EU and its Member States have been at the forefront of many COVID-19 response initiatives. Team Europe remains a leading donor of the COVAX Facility with over €3 billion in funding to help secure access to fully donor-funded doses for 92 lower-income economies.

The EU is also providing €10 million to support the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer to secure in-country operational/delivery costs. The aim is to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines by vulnerable populations who, for valid reasons, were not included in national vaccine deployment plans.

In February 2022, President von der Leyen announced an additional support package of €125 million to help boost vaccination in Africa. Also, in the framework of the Global Gateway, the EU is working with partners in Africa to prioritise the security of supply chains and develop local manufacturing capacities.

Additional support is available via the EU vaccine-sharing mechanism and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Over 34 million vaccine doses have been shared so far, including with African countries.

EU countries and Participating States in the Mechanism continue to show their solidarity and provide in-kind and technical assistance. From the onset of the pandemic until November 2021, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has responded to 91 requests for assistance for personal protective or medical equipment, diagnostic tests, medical teams, medicines and vaccines.

To overcome logistical challenges caused by COVID-19, the EU continues its Humanitarian Air Bridge that supported over 20 countries in four continents in 2020. In addition, the EU Humanitarian Aid Flight remains available to ensure that vaccines arrive in hard to reach and conflict areas.