Gates Foundation pledges $50 mn for equitable vaccine access By IANS | 0 Views news from CMG(May. 23rd). Image Source: IANS News San Francisco, June 2 : The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday pledged $50 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to increase access to safe and affordable Covid-19 vaccines in 92 lower-income countries. The foundation also called for high-income countries to share at least 1 billion excess Covid-19 doses with lower-income countries this year to accelerate global vaccine access and save lives. The pledge was announced at Gavi's COVAX AMC Summit, co-hosted by the government of Japan and Gavi. "The world must urgently come together to expand equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, or we risk more deaths and the emergence of new variants that could prolong the pandemic for everyone," Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said.