Leaders of the G7 group of rich democracies have vowed to boost supplies of Covid-19 vaccines to the developing world, although divisions remain over the speed at which the west should share its doses.
At a virtual G7 meeting on Friday hosted by Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, leaders increased their pledges to the WHO-led Covax global vaccine initiative to $7.5bn.
The countries agreed during the call, lasting one hour 45 minutes, to share surplus vaccines with the developing world, and US leader Joe Biden, speaking at his first big international meeting as president, promised an extra $4bn for the Covax scheme, with $2bn to be paid immediately.
The new US president also reaffirmed his commitment to fighting climate change, creating what one official called “a warm glow” around the meeting and a renewed sense of optimism about multilateral co-operation.
As the call drew to a close, Biden intervened to underline the shift from the acrimonious Trump era. According to one observer, Biden told the group: “I knew a guy who used to say ‘I don’t just understand you, I overstand you’. I overstand you.”
Justin Trudeau, described as “dishonest” and “weak” by Donald Trump at a bitter G7 summit in 2018, summed up the relaxed new mood, taking a selfie during the video call.
Ahead of the video meeting, Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, told the Financial Times that the west should urgently allocate up to 5 per cent of its current vaccine supplies to developing countries where Covid-19 inoculation campaigns have scarcely begun and China and Russia are offering to fill the gap.
But while the US has increased its financial support for Covax, it rejected Macron’s call to share doses before it had completed its own domestic vaccination campaign.
“Our current focus is on vaccinating Americans, getting shots in arms here,” said one US official, speaking before the meeting. Another official said Biden had asked staff to explore options for donating “surplus” vaccines “once there is a sufficient supply” to meet domestic demand.
Steffen Seibert, a spokesperson for Angela Merkel, said Germany had already agreed to respond to Macron’s call to provide greater support to the rest of the world. “We reached an agreement in principle with the French president that European countries will give poorer countries that so far haven’t received much vaccine some of our stocks.”
Johnson, who will host a G7 summit in Cornwall in June, also urged leaders to step up efforts to vaccinate the developing world against Covid-19 and to back a new 100-day target for the development of vaccines for future emerging diseases.
He said there was “no point” in the west vaccinating its citizens if large parts of the rest of the world had not received an adequate supply of vaccines.
The UK has ordered more than 400m doses of various Covid-19 vaccines, meaning that many will be left over once all adults have been inoculated. A UK government official said well over half of the country’s excess doses would go to Covax.
Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, told the G7 that the EU would double its financial contribution to Covax to €1bn.
Von der Leyen, who has been grappling with criticism of the EU’s own vaccine procurement scheme, has been a prominent voice calling for fair distribution of jab supplies around the world.
European countries have also made direct contributions to the Covax scheme. Germany said on Friday that it would contribute an additional €1.5bn for global vaccines, diagnostics and medication.
Downing Street also said that the G7 was united in condemning the recent coup in Myanmar and the detention of Alexei Navalny in Russia. The leaders agreed to engage with China “with the aim of supporting a fair and mutually beneficial global economic system for all people”.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2Y1YzhmNTY1LTM0NjMtNGExOC1iNjRiLTI0MDc1ZDgzYWQ1N9IBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2Y1YzhmNTY1LTM0NjMtNGExOC1iNjRiLTI0MDc1ZDgzYWQ1Nw?oc=5
2021-02-19 18:15:39Z
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