Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has completed the allocation of nearly 200 million doses of vaccine to 35 lower-income countries in an effort to reach millions of children who missed out on critical routine vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The allocation follows a Gavi Board decision in December 2023 to approve US$290 million funding for the “Big Catch Up” initiative.
With allocation now complete, the focus will now be on delivery. So far, 32 million doses have been shipped to 13 countries with 10 million doses set to be shipped before the end of July.
Geneva, 18 July 2024 – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in collaboration with UNICEF and WHO, has allocated nearly 200 million additional doses of key, life-saving vaccines aimed at contributing to the vaccination of approximately 50 per cent of children in Gavi countries missed during the pandemic.
Targeted funding of US$290 million in support of the “Big Catch Up” initiative was approved by the Gavi Board in December 2023, and today’s announcement indicates that all country requests received during the application window for this special effort can now move to the implementation stage.
Nearly 32 million doses have already been shipped to 13 countries* as part of the effort so far, and another 10 million doses are set to be shipped by the end of this month. Of the 35 lower-income countries targeted by the initiative, many are already conducting catch-up activities, with others poised to launch efforts imminently.
“Lower-income countries made unprecedented efforts to vaccinate their populations during the C-19 pandemic, but this emergency response strained their health systems. Now, our priority is twofold: help countries regain lost ground in routine immunisation coverage and build more resilient and equitable vaccination programmes for the future,” said Thabani Maphosa, the Managing Director of Country Programmes Delivery at Gavi. “Gavi and our partners are acting swiftly to support this critical public health mission, recognising that strong immunisation systems are the foundation for combating disease outbreaks and saving lives.”
The Big Catch-Up was launched by partners in April 2023 to address the decline in childhood vaccination rates observed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of overburdened health systems and disrupted access to medical care.
The latest global immunisation coverage data (WUENIC) for 2023 highlighted significant variations across Gavi implementing countries, with improvements in 22 countries, offset by sizeable declines in a smaller number of countries. Immunisation coverage in Gavi-supported countries remained stable – mirroring the global trend – despite a growing birth cohort as Gavi implementing countries vaccinated a near record number of children.
The data also pointed to an increase in the number of zero-dose children in Gavi implementing countries, highlighting the need for further efforts to reach these and under-immunised children.
The gaps in coverage caused by the pandemic have led to increased outbreaks across multiple countries, further highlighting the critical need to address immunity gaps. For instance, data from WHO-CDC shows that from December 2022 to November 2023, 51 countries experienced significant or disruptive measles outbreaks, with the high levels of coverage required to prevent outbreaks a challenge for many health systems. Another challenge is the rate of population growth in regions such as Africa, meaning countries must reach more children each year to maintain coverage levels.
Through this extraordinary catch-up effort, Gavi and partners aim to help lower-income countries close immunisation gaps, restore immunisation coverage to pre-pandemic levels, and strengthen immunisation systems in the longer term. The review and allocation process was aimed at providing support to all countries that applied within the funding window, including by strengthening plans to achieve better outcomes.
Big Catch Up funding is already supporting countries identify and immunize unimmunized children, particularly in some of the most hard-to-reach contexts. For example, in April 2024, the Syrian Arab Republic rolled out a campaign with an aim to reach an estimated 360,000 children. Around 15,000 health workers and vaccinators were deployed to more than 1,000 sites to screen children’s vaccination status and immunise those who are unvaccinated. In another example, Somalia is using Big Catch-Up support as a driver to address some of the country’s widest gaps, administering measles vaccine, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis-containing vaccine to ward against deadly outbreaks of these diseases.
Notes to editors
*List of Countries: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, Somalia, Syria and Tanzania
List of antigens for Big Catch Up activities: Pentavalent, HPV, IPV, Measles, MR, MMR, MenA, PCV, ROTA, and Yellow Fever
About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organisations that fund Gavi’s work here.
Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 1 billion children – and prevented more than 17.3 million future deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 78 lower-income countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningococcal and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation, above all the zero-dose children who have not received even a single vaccine shot. The Vaccine Alliance employs innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.