Covid 19: Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity

In response to global calls for support to enhance vaccine roll-out in early 2022, Canada launched Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity (CanGIVE), a $317 million signature initiative to bolster COVID-19 vaccine delivery, strengthen health systems and increase regional vaccine manufacturing capacity.

As the world moves beyond emergency pandemic response, continued access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments will remain critical for high-risk groups. In some low- and lower-middle income countries, vaccination rates remain low and health systems have been overstretched by the pandemic. This poses significant challenges to long-term COVID-19 management and recovery efforts. Countries require support to integrate COVID-19 vaccination into ongoing immunization programs and primary health services in a way that strengthens the broader health system and reverses the backsliding trend in routine immunization that occurred over the pandemic.

Canada is contributing to these efforts, building on Canada’s long-standing commitment to investing in and supporting health systems worldwide. Through CanGIVE, Canada will continue to support vaccination for high-risk groups where vaccination coverage remains low, particularly in humanitarian contexts and hard-to-reach places.

The initiative builds on Canada’s long-standing commitment to investing in and supporting health systems worldwide.

CanGIVE aims to:

• strengthen vaccine delivery systems and community outreach to reach high-priority and marginalized groups
• integrate COVID-19 prevention and care, including increased gender-responsive capacity, into routine health services in a way that strengthens the broader health system
• scale up regional vaccine production capacity to bring manufacturing closer to populations in need
• improve access to COVID-19 vaccines for countries with humanitarian needs

CanGIVE focuses on 12 countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Haiti, Jamaica, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania.

Through CanGIVE, Canada is partnering with:

• UNICEF - $170 million to enhance COVID-19 vaccine delivery and uptake among high-priority groups, integrate COVID-19 vaccination into routine health services,strengthen health systems and improve gender-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene systems in 11 countries
• the World Health Organization (WHO) - $57 million to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, particularly among priority groups and vulnerable populations, and reinforce health systems through strengthened community outreach, data systems, and the delivery of gender-equitable immunization and primary health care in 7 African countries
• the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) - $60 million to improve equitable COVID-19 vaccination coverage, in particular among vulnerable populations, including women and girls, throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on Colombia, Haiti and Jamaica; Canada is also supporting PAHO’s COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Manufacturing Platform to strengthen vaccine-production capacities in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) - $30 million to help advance the work of the “hub” for COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in South Africa, as well as enhance the capacity of a network of manufacturing facilities in “spoke” countries

These investments are part of Canada’s $732-million commitment to the ACT-Accelerator and were announced on May 12, 2022, by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Related links

• Canada’s aid and development assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Minister Sajjan announces support for COVID-19 vaccination and health systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Minister Sajjan announces $200-million contribution to enhance COVID-19 vaccine delivery, demand and production in 13 high-need countries - Canada.ca