NEW YORK (January 19, 2021) – Discovery, the global leader in real-life entertainment, and UNICEF USA, supporting the largest single vaccine buyer in the world, today announced an innovative new partnership to assist UNICEF USA in providing 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines for frontline health care workers and vulnerable populations in 92 low-and middle-income countries. As part of its RISE (Reducing Inequality and Supporting Empowerment) Initiative, Discovery will donate $1 for every new discovery+ subscription purchased by a consumer to help fund UNICEF USA’s COVID-19 work. discovery+, the definitive non-fiction, real-life subscription streaming service, launched in the U.S. on January 4.

“We are thrilled to partner with UNICEF USA to donate to its life-saving work that will provide COVID-19 vaccines to the people who need it most but have the least access,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery, Inc. “Discovery has a long history of engaging our audiences to join us in giving back, which is one of the company’s core values. This innovative, new partnership gives discovery+ subscribers the opportunity to help UNICEF USA achieve its goal of delivering COVID-19 vaccines to underserved populations across nearly 100 countries.”

“COVID-19 threatens progress for an entire generation of children, but with the support of Discovery and its viewers, UNICEF can help vaccinate health care and social workers, ensuring they can safely provide communities around the world with critical care and support,” said Michael J. Nyenhuis, President and CEO, UNICEF USA. “This impactful partnership will help protect vulnerable populations and support global recovery.”

Beginning today and through April 19, 2021, for every new subscription of discovery+ purchased by a consumer, Discovery will donate $1 to UNICEF USA in support of UNICEF’s COVID-19 work, which includes the equitable and global distribution of safe COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine doses purchased by UNICEF are intended to protect 107 million frontline health care and social workers as well as high risk populations, furthering UNICEF’s mission of supporting the most vulnerable families and communities.

UNICEF is the largest single vaccine buyer in the world, procuring more than two billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunization and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries. UNICEF has a unique and longstanding expertise in procurement and logistics to help children in need, and is now leading efforts to procure and supply doses of COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of COVAX, the vaccine pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator.

Discovery recently announced the premiere of a timely special, THE VACCINE: CONQUERING COVID on Sunday, February 21 at 8 PM PT/ET on Discovery and streaming on discovery+. Set against the backdrop of a rising global death count and a pandemic that has left the world on edge, the special goes behind the scenes of the race for a vaccine and features interviews with the world’s leading doctors involved including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; and Dr. John Mascola of the National Institutes of Health, as well as interviews with scientists from leading pharmaceutical companies including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer. Having been chosen by the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to lead on global procurement and distribution of the vaccine to those in the hardest to reach places, UNICEF’s COVID-19 work will also be featured in the documentary.

Discovery is a mission-driven company and through its RISE Initiative the company is committed to improving access to basic human needs globally. In partnership with Save the Children, Discovery is helping to provide critical nutrition, education and sanitation items to 10 million underserved people globally. The UNICEF partnership builds on the work Discovery has been committed to throughout the pandemic, including helping No Kid Hungry provide 875 million meals to families in need through the Turn Up! Fight Hunger program. Also, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Discovery helped raise $1.3 million to benefit the Mount Sinai COVID 19 Relief Fund for personal protective equipment and critical medical supplies and also assisted in fundraising for Guy Fieri’s Restaurant Employee Relief Fund.

For more information on discovery+ and how to sign up, visit discoveryplus.com.

 

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About Discovery
Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and nearly 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as discovery+, Food Network Kitchen and MotorTrend OnDemand; digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media; a landmark natural history and factual content partnership with the BBC; and a strategic alliance with PGA TOUR to create the international home of golf. Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and the forthcoming multi-platform JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Network, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.

 

About UNICEF USA
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to pursue a more equitable world for every child. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more.

UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information visit unicefusa.org.

 

For more information, contact
Ann Reinking Whitener, UNICEF USA, areinking@unicefusa.org