US, UK, Others To Donate One billion Covid-19 Vaccine To Poor Nations

The G7 countries have shown readiness to donate at least one billion coronavirus vaccine doses to strengthen poorer nation’s fight against the Covid-19 virus.

The G7 is made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, and European Union

As the leaders of the seven wealthy nations are expected to gather in a three-day Summit in Cornwall UK from today, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hinted that world leaders are expected to announce they will provide at least one billion coronavirus vaccine doses to the world.

Johnson, in a Downing Street statement on Friday announced that UK will donate 100 million surplus coronavirus vaccine doses to the world within the next year.

“At the Summit world leaders are expected to announce they will provide at least one billion coronavirus vaccine doses to the world through dose sharing and financing and set out a plan to expand vaccine manufacturing in order to achieve that goal.

“The UK will donate five million doses by the end of September, beginning in the coming weeks, primarily for use in the world’s poorest countries,” he said.

The Prime Minister also committed to donating a further 95 million doses within the next year, including 25 million more by the end of 2021.

According to him, 80 per cent of the 100 million doses will go to COVAX and the rest will be shared bilaterally with countries in need.

By sharing five million doses in the coming weeks the UK will meet an immediate demand for vaccines for the countries worst affected by coronavirus without delaying completion of our initial domestic vaccination programme.

“By vaccinating more people around the world not only will we help bring an end to the global coronavirus pandemic, we will reduce the risk to people in the UK. This includes significantly reducing the threat posed by vaccine-resistant variants emerging in areas with large-scale outbreaks.

“The UK helped to establish COVAX last year and is its fourth-biggest donor, pledging £548 million to the scheme. COVAX has so far provided 81 million doses to 129 of the world’s poorest countries.

“With the support of the UK Government, Oxford-AstraZeneca are distributing their vaccines on a not for profit basis the world. Thanks to this commitment, half a billion people have received a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine so far,” he said.

The Prime Minister explained that since the start of the pandemic, the UK has led the way in efforts to protect humanity against this deadly disease.

He noted that the UK government has in the past year, funded the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, adding that over half a billion doses have been administered in 160 countries at no cost.