TikTok pledges $10 million to immunization drive in Africa

The leading short-form video platform, TikTok, has today announced that it will donate US$10 million to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which will go towards supporting efforts for both routine vaccinations against existing infectious diseases in Africa, as well as future deployment of  COVID-19 vaccines.

In addition to supporting immunization, TikTok has stated that it will continue to support front line medical workers, educators, and local communities affected by COVID-19, both on and off the platform through various financial and educational efforts through its #WashingHands campaign which share health and safety tips with the community and the #Love2Learn campaign which encouraged creative learning at home.

“TikTok was created to inspire creativity and bring joy to the community. In the face of this unprecedented crisis, we are committed to playing our part in the global outpouring of mutual support and giving, and providing concrete relief for those most affected. We believe this support can go a long way in the improvement of a robust and sustainable immunisation programme in African countries, in particular ensuring equal access to the future COVID-19 vaccines, making a real difference to the health and safety of the African community in the long term,” read part of the statement.

“This important contribution to Gavi will not only help us to deploy vaccines, once developed, against COVID-19, but it will also help us prevent a potentially catastrophic impact on immunisation programmes across the developing world,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi. “Working with global innovators such as TikTok lies at the heart of Gavi’s public-private partnership model. The results we’ve achieved over the past two decades have only been possible thanks to the unique combination of expertise from our global public sector partners and the business acumen, creativity and entrepreneurship of the private sector. We thank TikTok for their support and the work they are doing in combating COVID-19, and look forward to even closer collaboration in the future.”

The contribution will be matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through its support to the Gavi Matching Fund, a public-private funding mechanism designed to incentivize private sector investments in immunization, bringing the total package of support to US$ 20 million.