The U.S. government has been a bold leader in the global fight against COVID-19. As global COVID-19 vaccine supply surged in 2021 following historic donations from the United States, the U.S. government ramped up support and expanded its leadership by launching the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access, known as Global VAX. This new initiative made COVID-19 vaccine doses available in countries around the world and supported countries in administering them through dedicated campaigns and routine country health care systems. Through Global VAX, the U.S. government leveraged its decades of investment in global health and diplomatic partnerships to help partner countries deliver lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines to millions of people. Global VAX built upon existing partnerships with key multilateral partners—including the World Health Organization (WHO); Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) facility; UNICEF; and others—to harmonize COVID-19 vaccine donations, deliveries, and plans for vaccine rollout and administration.

Global VAX mobilized multiple U.S. government agencies’ expertise in a whole-of-government initiative, with more than $1.8 billion in funding committed to COVID-19 vaccination thanks to the generous support and leadership of the U.S. Congress. In close collaboration with partner governments and multilateral partners, Global VAX supported more than 120 countries in driving widespread impact to the hardest-to-reach populations through large-scale COVID-19 vaccine delivery. A set of 11 “surge” countries1 with significant need, all in sub-Saharan Africa, received intensive financial, technical, and diplomatic engagement through Global VAX that catalyzed and accelerated country COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Global VAX contributed to an unprecedented acceleration in COVID-19 vaccine delivery, demand, and uptake globally. When Global VAX launched in December 2021, upper-middle- income countries had vaccinated 65 percent of their populations with a complete primary series against COVID-19, while lower- middle-income countries had vaccinated just 27 percent and had reached only three percent of their populations with a complete primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Publication date from document properties.

USAID_COVID_GVAX_Capstone_Report-082423_FINAL_508.pdf