Among the financial instruments announced by the international Gavi vaccines alliance at its latest board meeting were a $500m First Response Fund to provide immediate finance at the start of a future pandemic, and $22m to support a “pandemic-ready” coalition of vaccine partners.
The investment in the First Response Fund is in answer to one of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, where it took time to raise funds to support efforts to ensure equitable access to vaccines, which slowed down the ability to respond