Singapore To Contribute 5 Mln USD To Help Other Countries Get COVID-19 Vaccines

Singapore decided on Friday to contribute 5 million U.S. dollars to support low- and lower-middle-income countries get COVID-19 vaccine

SINGAPORE (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2020 ) :Singapore decided on Friday to contribute 5 million U.S. Dollars to support low- and lower-middle-income countries get COVID-19 vaccines.

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 2 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.