The $10 billion pledge for vaccines that Bill and Melinda Gates made today in Davos may be worth much more than that in the long run.

The couple announced that their foundation will commit $10 billion over the next decade for vaccines for the world's poorest countries. The world's largest private foundation is already spending more than half a billion dollars a year on vaccines, so this new commitment represents at least a doubling of its current efforts.

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Gates Foundation co-chairs Bill and Melinda Gates get set for a press conference on vaccines at the World Economic Forum.

As seen in the past, the actions of the Gates Foundation tend to have a huge ripple effect on the world and effectively set the global agenda. Money from the Gates Foundation single-handedly revitalized research on malaria, which had largely been abandoned by the developing world.

The Gateses also helped make the battle against malaria a cause celebre by working with stars like Bono and others, an effort that has helped inspire scores of organizations that tap corporations and individual citizens for money to buy bed nets for African communities. Soon after the Gateses commitment to malaria studies, the U.S. government followed suit with a presidential initiative to distribute bed nets and anti-malarial drugs.

The flood of email to reporters this morning shows the Gates move was a highly coordinated campaign, involving organizations such as the World Health Organization, International Vaccine Access Center and GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).

"The Gates Foundation's commitment to vaccines is unprecedented, but needs to be matched by unprecedented action," said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. "It's absolutely crucial that both governments and the private sector step up efforts to provide life-saving vaccines to children who need them most."

Julian Lob-Levyt, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, who accompanied the Gateses for the news announcement in Davos, said GAVI would not exist if not for Bill & Melinda. Now it gets funding from 17 nations, and the WHO estimates the expanded vaccinations have saved five million lives.

"The Gates Foundation cannot achieve the full promise of vaccines on its own," said Orin Levine, executive director of IVAC. "Manufacturers must increase their investments in vaccine research and development, donor countries must mobilize to help fund new vaccines, and developing countries must make the investments and take the steps necessary for delivering life-saving vaccines to their children."

Will this new high-profile pledge compel donor nations to allocate more of their budgets to vaccines (or risk being slammed in public forums before world media)? And if so, will that come at the expense of something else?

Results of a study on rotavirus vaccines yesterday pointed to a whole range of other factors critical for their success, including clean water, proper sanitation, oral rehydration therapies, breastfeeding and vitamin supplements. It also pointed out problems in the cold chain --- distributing vaccines to far the reaches of poor countries while trying to maintain them at a constant temperature to keep from spoiling.

In his annual letter, Gates warned that increased spending by governments on climate change could jeopardize funding for vaccines.

The new emphasis on vaccines is one indication of the influence Bill Gates has had on the foundation in his first year on the job full-time. Watching Gates interviewed by Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show," (granted the segment was only six minutes) it was striking that he mentioned just two things about the foundation's work outside of the U.S. -- vaccines and better seeds.