Gates Foundation commends Komeito on COVAX work

June 17 , 2021

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation sent a letter of appreciation to Komeito Chief Representative Natsuo Yamaguchi for his party’s activities to “strengthen Japan’s commitment to the Gavi COVAX Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) initiative” and for playing a key role in lobbying the Japanese government to host and back the AMC summit. The summit raised enough funding to secure 1.8 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines—including an additional US$700 million from Japan—enough to have an “incredible impact” on the lives of nearly 1 billion people.

Dated June 9 and signed by Foundation cofounder Bill Gates, the letter also acknowledged Komeito’s support for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI), which serves as the co-lead and R&D function of the COVAX Facility, to prepare for and respond to future pandemics. “Given Komeito’s remarkable efforts in championing CEPI’s work so far, the party’s role in reinforcing the collaboration between Japan and CEPI will become more important.”

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