G7 DONATING 1 BILLION COVID-19 VACCINE DOSES TO POOR COUNTRIES

The Group of Seven (G7) nations are set to commit to sharing at least 1 billion coronavirus shots with the world, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Thursday, with half coming from the US and 100 million from the UK as President Joe Biden urged allies to join in speeding the pandemic’s end and bolstering the strategic position of the world’s wealthiest democracies.

Johnson’s announcement on the eve of the G7 leaders’ summit in England came hours after Biden committed to donating 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and previewed a coordinated effort by the advanced economies to make vaccination widely and speedily available everywhere, Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Jill Lawless reported for the Associated Press (AP).

It also aims to undercut China’s vaccine diplomacy, which promotes less efficacious vaccines churned out by Beijing.

“We’re going to help lead the world out of this pandemic working alongside our global partners,” Biden said, adding that on Friday the G7 nations would join the US in outlining their vaccine donation commitments.

The G7 also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, which will share in proving the balance of 400 million shots.

The prime minister’s office said the first 5 million UK doses would be shared in the coming weeks, with the remainder coming over the next year. Biden’s own commitment was on top of the 80 million doses he has already pledged to donate by the end of June, making the total US pledge to 580 million doses, much bigger than what China has provided to the entire world.

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