SINGAPORE: Singapore decided on Friday to contribute US$5 million to support low- and lower-middle-income countries get Covid-19 vaccines, reported Xinhua news agency.
The announcement was made in a joint press statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health.
The money would go through the Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) Advance Market Commitment (AMC) mechanism, which will help support 92 low- and lower-middle-income countries’ access to Covid-19 vaccines through the Covax Facility, said the statement.
The Covax Facility is a global risk-sharing mechanism which seeks to procure, equitably allocate and deliver two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2021.
Singapore is one of 97 self-financing participants (as of Nov 25, 2020) in the Facility.
The contribution is part of “our consistent support for vaccine multilateralism, and the fair and equitable access and allocation of vaccines,” said the statement.
The AMC-eligible countries include several Asean countries as well as small states globally, it added.
The Covid-19 virus “does not respect borders, and no one is safe until everyone is safe,” said the statement, adding that the successful development of safe and efficacious vaccines is a critical step towards overcoming the pandemic.