Gates Foundation now to donate $1.6 billion to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a five-year, US$1.6 billion commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to deliver lifesaving vaccines to the world’s poorest countries. The commitment was announced at the Global Vaccine Summit 2020, hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom.

Funding secured today for Gavi’s next strategic period will help the Alliance reach an additional 300 million children in the world’s most vulnerable communities and save up to eight million lives, bringing the total number of children immunized with Gavi support to more than one billion since its inception in 2000.

In addition to supporting the continuation of routine immunization services during the current COVID-19 crisis, Gavi will play a vital role in efforts to end the pandemic, leveraging its two decades of experience in vaccine delivery to deploy potential COVID-19 vaccines to low income countries when they become available.

The Gates Foundation is the largest private donor to Gavi, contributing $7.7 billion to the group over the last 25 years. The commitment from the foundation is even more important now that the US government, which has been the second-leading government donor to Gavi behind the United Kingdom, plans to terminate its funding for the group.

US funding for Gavi, which peaked at $300 million in 2024, has been primarily provided through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which was dismantled earlier this year by the Trump administration.

The Gates Foundation and the European Union are co-hosting the pledging event in Brussels, where several world leaders are expected to announce new commitments to support Gavi's 2026 through 2030 funding cycle. Gavi has set a target of immunizing at least 500 million children and saving over 8 million lives over the cycle, with a focus on vaccinating children against malaria and HPV.

The foundation says it will also make large investments in emergency vaccine stockpiles, help secure access to vaccines for the poorest countries, and work with regional partners to build resilience in local vaccine manufacturing.