At the Global Health Summit in Rome, on 21 May 2021, President von der Leyen announced that ‘Team Europe' would share with low and middle-income countries at least 100 million doses by the end of 2021, mainly via COVAX, our partner in vaccinating the world.

Team Europe (the EU, its institutions and all 27 Member States) is on track to exceed this initial goal, with 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines foreseen to be shared with the countries that need them most, by the end of 2021.

President von der Leyen said: “Team Europe takes its responsibility in helping the world fight the virus, everywhere. Vaccination is key – that's why it is essential to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines to countries worldwide. We will be sharing more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with low and middle-income countries by the end of this year.”

The more than 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have been committed by Team Europe will reach their destination countries, mainly through COVAX, by the end of this year.

COVAX has so far delivered 122 million doses to 136 countries.

In parallel, Team Europe has launched an initiative on manufacturing and access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa.

The initiative will help create the right conditions for local vaccine manufacturing in Africa, backed by €1 billion from the EU budget and the European development finance institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB).

On 9 July, Team Europe agreed to support large-scale investment in vaccine production by the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, alongside other support measures. The new manufacturing plant will reduce Africa's 99% dependence on vaccine imports and strengthen future pandemic resilience in the continent.