A facility set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Gavi vaccine group has exceeded an interim target of raising more than US$2 billion to buy and distribute Covid-19 shots for poorer countries but said it still needs more.

The Gavi alliance said on Friday that the funds for an advance market commitment (AMC) will allow the Covax facility to buy an initial one billion vaccine doses for 92 eligible countries which would not otherwise be able to afford them.