Coronavirus - G7 to pledge 1 billion vaccines for poor countries

 Eva Deschamps / June 11, 2021

The leaders of the rich G7 countries will pledge at their summit to distribute one billion doses of anti-Covid vaccine to poor countries in order to end the pandemic in 2022, announced Thursday the British presidency of the group.

Meeting from Friday to Sunday in southwest England, the leaders of major powers must announce that they will provide at least one billion doses of vaccine against the coronavirus by sharing doses and funding them, said in a statement the British government, which holds the G7 presidency this year.

They must also present a plan to expand vaccine production to meet this target, it continued. By vaccinating more people around the world, we will not only help stop the coronavirus pandemic, but we will also reduce the risk to people in the UK by reducing the threat posed by vaccine-resistant variants appearing in areas with significant outbreaks, he added.  As part of this, London said it is donating 100 million surplus doses from various laboratories thanks to the progress of its vaccination program, which has already administered nearly 70 million injections in the UK. Five million doses will be provided by September, and the rest until 2022, mainly through the Covax device.

The United States has pledged to provide 500 million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, including 200 million this year. The UK Presidency also wants to call on pharmaceutical companies to provide vaccines at cost for the duration of the pandemic, as did Oxford/AstraZeneca. In May, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson pledged to provide 3.5 billion doses at cost or discount to the poorest countries in 2021 and 2022, including 1.3 billion this year. The G7 leaders will also discuss the establishment of mechanisms to prevent future pandemics.