British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects the seven major industrialized nations meeting in his country this weekend for a G7 summit will make at least 1 billion vaccines available to less wealthy countries.
The British contribute about 100 million doses themselves, and the United States already announced on Thursday that it would buy and donate 500 million corona vaccines.
“The success of the UK vaccination campaign has allowed us to share some of our surplus with those who need it,” Johnson said. “By doing this, we are taking a big step in beating the pandemic for good.”
In a statement, the British prime minister expresses hope that other G7 countries will also make a similar commitment and expects world leaders to announce to “supply at least 1 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to the world”.
Of the 100 million UK doses, 5 million will have been donated by the end of September. The remaining 95 million will largely follow in 2022. About 80 percent of the vaccines go to the international program Covax, ensuring a worldwide distribution of the corona vaccines.
The summit of the G7 starts on Friday in Carbis Bay in Cornwall. The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the European Union are taking part. In addition to the United States’ pledge of 500 million doses, EU countries also decided in May to donate 100 million doses by the end of the year. Both France and Germany supply 30 million vaccines.