Mormon Church Gives $20M To Help Send Vaccines Globally

A shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX Facility arrives in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Friday Feb. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/ Diomande Ble Blonde)
Brady McCombs, Associated Press
February 26, 2021

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Friday it has donated $20 million to help a program aimed at distributing coronavirus vaccines to poor countries around the world.

The donation from the humanitarian arm of the Utah-based faith is going to UNICEF as part of the organization's work with the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative, which this week sent its long-awaited first deliveries to Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Officials have hailed the initiative as the first delivery of the vaccine to poor countries during an ongoing outbreak, but it has been hampered by the limited global supply of doses and logistical problems. The effort's goal is to deliver 2 billion shots this year to the world’s most vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries.

Ghana received 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday and the Ivory Coast took delivery of 504,000 on Friday.

More than half of the 16.5 million church members of the faith known widely as the Mormon church live outside the United States, including 666,500 in Africa. Many serve faith outreach missions around the world aimed at recruiting new members.

Church officials hope the program helps children in these countries, where programs run by other organizations that provide children with health, nutritional and educational services have been disrupted by the pandemic, said Gérald Caussé, Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint Charities in a statement.

The faith doesn't disclose information about its finances, but commonly announces donations made through the humanitarian arm of the religion that has helped more than 1,000 coronavirus relief projects in 152 countries, according to the church.

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The opinions contained in this piece are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Interfaith Youth Core. Interfaith America encourages a wide range of views and strives to maintain a respectful tone with a goal of greater understanding and cooperation between people of different faiths, worldviews, and traditions.