NVS objectives
- Accelerated introduction of life-saving vaccines
- Evidence-based decision-making
- Financial sustainability of immunisation programmes
- Alignment with national planning and budgetary process
There is no limit to the number of vaccines that a country can apply for in a single application round, but only one vaccine per country will be funded in a single round and applicants must propose an introduction date within two years of the actual application round.
Countries can also request support for the partial introduction of a vaccine or a phased rollout. In addition, GAVI funds auto-disable syringes and safety boxes, sent to successful country applicants together with the vaccines.
Co-financing
All countries must co-finance GAVI-supported vaccines, except for measles second dose and preventative campaigns for yellow fever and meningitis A; in no case will GAVI support replace government funds already allocated for the purchase of vaccines.
Initially, the NVS programme provided five-year support grants with the expectation that countries would cover continued vaccination cost after GAVI’s support ended. This assumed that GAVI’s business model would drive down the price of vaccines within five years to the point where poor countries could afford to pay themselves. When it became apparent that vaccine prices were not dropping quickly enough, GAVI revised its support timelines to be based on country planning cycles.
Today, countries can only request NVS support for the duration of comprehensive Multi-Year Plans for immunization – this ensurs that vaccine rollouts are aligned with the national health and budgetary planning process.
