G7 Leaders Commit To Donating One Billion Vax Doses

CBS News reports:

President Biden is joining other world democratic leaders on the first day of the Group of 7 summit in Britain, hoping to restore U.S. relations with the world’s democracies and urging them to unite to confront COVID-19 and other global challenges.

Leaders of the G7 and guest countries will provide more than 1 billion additional COVID-19 vaccine doses for the world, 500 million of which will come from the United States, the White House said Friday. The U.S. will lead the G7 and other countries in a global COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Reuters reports:

Health and anti-poverty campaigners said that, while donations were a step in the right direction, Western leaders had failed to grasp the exceptional efforts needed to beat the virus. Help with distribution was also necessary, they said.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, who has been pushing for richer countries to share more of the cost of vaccinating developing countries, said the G7 pledges were more akin to “passing round the begging bowl” than a real solution.

Even if G7 provided one billion vaccines it is not enough. We need a longer-term burden-sharing plan to provide the extra finance, not just a short term dose sharing plan to hand out excess supplies. https://t.co/lnQucxgkx8 via @bopinion

— Gordon Brown (@GordonBrown) June 9, 2021