The UK government has pledged more than £1.5bn over the next five years as part of international efforts to find a Covid-19 vaccine.

International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told MPs the UK would contribute the equivalent of £330m a year for the next five years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.

First Secretary Dominic Raab later said the government will seek to vaccinate “all of the people here in the UK” as well as supporting the “most vulnerable and poorest countries” in immunising their populations.