The Rockefeller Foundation, an NGO, on Wednesday launched a 55-million US dollar investment global vaccination initiative, to support Africa, Asia among other parts of the world.
The foundation’s president, Dr. Rajiv Shah, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
Shah said that the money would be invested for two years to support country-led efforts to fully vaccinate 90 per cent of the most at-risk populations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
“With this new initiative, the foundation is focusing its global health resources on supporting locally-driven interventions to increase vaccine demand, access and trust.
“It is also to solve information that have been consistently underestimated, misunderstood, and underfunded in the global COVID-19 response to date, while leveraging data from trusted, credible sources to strengthen health systems and ensure they are meeting the needs of the most vulnerable populations,” he said.
Shah added that COVID-19 vaccines still represented the world’s best chance at sustainably managing and overcoming the pandemic, “yet, two years into the pandemic, vaccination rates remain severely inequitable.
“Only 15 per cent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose, while high-income countries deploy third or even fourth booster shots.
“The world has every tool it needs to make COVID-19 endemic for everyone, everywhere but only if those tools are in the hands of the people who need them most.
“With this new commitment, this Foundation will help countries across the Global South reach at-risk populations, simultaneously increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates, also building health systems capable of addressing future COVID-19 outbreaks and other public health threats,” he said.
Commenting on the launch, Dr Bruce Gellin, Chief of Global Public Health Strategy of the foundation, said that their approach would work together with countries to understand the drivers of demand and barriers to vaccination.
Gerllin said that only then could “we design innovative solutions to swiftly get doses to the most vulnerable communities.”
The Rockefeller Foundation, a pioneering philanthropy, is built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation to enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish.