Over the past year, all across the world, we have felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, devastating the health of people and countries, and our interconnected economies. Rwanda, despite its excellent handling of the pandemic, has suffered jobs and livelihoods lost, children unable to go to school, and families mourning their loved ones. That is why I was so excited on Wednesday, March 3, to see Rwanda welcome the first vaccines provided by the Gavi COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC). COVAX is the world’s best chance to provide global access to vaccines, by forming an international approach to ending the pandemic through the pooling of resources. This is why the UK has pledged £548 million ($772 million) towards COVAX, which will contribute to more than one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses for up to 92 eligible countries in 2021. I am proud that the UK is working hand in hand with partners across Africa. Academic and scientific researchers are working on every piece of the Covid-19 puzzle. We have all come together during this unprecedented pandemic delivering new vaccines, treatments and tests at the speed and levels needed. The development of multiple coronavirus vaccines in approximately 300 days is undoubtedly a global achievement and we have all played our part. No single country could have achieved this alone. Working with all of our international partners – including the G7, G20, the EU, the AU, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the new COVAX Facility and others – we are together delivering a strong global response. The UK’s foreign policy has been clear from the onset of the pandemic: strengthen the resilience of vulnerable countries, ensure equitable access to vaccines which also helps stop new variants from emerging, and continue to support the global economy. Vaccines are the way out of this acute phase of the pandemic and an effective vaccine is the best way to protect people from the coronavirus. It will save thousands of lives around the world, enable health workers to get back to work and deliver other health services that have been disrupted and help begin the process of economic recovery from the impact of this crisis. As all viruses mutate over time, and new variants emerge regularly, the UK is proactively sharing its genomic expertise with our international partners around the world, allowing them to respond accordingly. Deliveries across Africa this week were a historic step towards our goal to ensure global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, in what will be the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history. Rwanda’s delivery is part of a first wave of arrivals that will continue in the coming days and weeks. We are not in this alone. Together, we can overcome this pandemic. The writer is the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Rwanda
