Japan to give $300 million for vaccinations in developing countries

The financial support to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, will be extended for five years from 2021 to make contributions to global public health efforts, Abe said in a video message aired at the nongovermental organization's online meeting hosted by the British government, Kyodo reports.

The Japanese government provided around $95 million to Gavi for the previous five-year period from 2016 to 2020. The upcoming donation of $300 million, including $100 million already pledged in April, is the largest amount Japan has provided to the nongovernmental body to date.

Gavi provides vaccines, purchased using funds collected from donor countries, to developing countries at low cost. It also assists countries in purchasing medical supplies for immunization.

«By involving the world, (Japan) wants to lead the development and spread of new therapeutic medicines and vaccines,» Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, said at a press conference in Tokyo.