22.05.2021 – 19:44
US and German vaccine partners Pfizer-BioNTech pledged $ 2 billion of their vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries as part of a global effort to close the vaccine gap between rich and poor nations.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla made the announcement on behalf of the pharmaceutical partners during the Global Summit on Health organized in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The meeting, which focused on vaccine inequalities around the world, was attended by members of the Group of 20 economic powers and the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union.
Mr. Bourla said the first billion doses of their vaccine will be delivered this year and the rest in 2022. U.S. pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Johnson & Johnson also promised donations of 200,000 and 100,000 doses, respectively.
The European Union has pledged to contribute “at least” 100 million doses.
The host of the meeting, Draghi, called the donations “considerable and to be admired”. At the opening of the virtual meeting, Mr. Draghi noted that of the nearly 1.5 billion doses of vaccines administered in more than 180 countries, only 0.3% were distributed in low-income countries, while 85% in the most rich of the world.
Since the pandemic began, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned against what he calls “vaccine nationalism,” in which richer countries accumulate vaccine reserves while poorer countries do not. He has said that the pandemic will not end until the citizens of every country are vaccinated.
The WHO administers the international COVAX vaccine mechanism, which provides vaccines to lower-income countries.
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