U.S., Japan, China Vow Vax Help

Leaders from 21 Pacific-Rim economies including Japan, the United States, and China pledged on Friday to beef up the availability of COVID-19 vaccines to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and to provide the necessary ongoing support for their economies to recover, according to Kyodo News.

"We will only overcome this health emergency by accelerating equitable access to safe, effective, quality-assured and affordable COVID-19 vaccines," the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum said in a statement issued after their informal virtual summit.

Emphasizing the role of extensive immunization as a global public good, they also vowed to "redouble our efforts to expand vaccine manufacture and supply, support global vaccine sharing efforts, and encourage the voluntary transfer of vaccine production technologies on mutually agreed terms."

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC