German Chancellor – Angela Merkel has raised concerns over the availability of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to the poor nations of the world who cannot afford the vaccine.
She shared her thoughts during the 2-day G20 Summit which ended on Sunday. Due to the pandemic, the Summit was held virtually. The G20 is an international forum for the Governments and Central Bank Governors from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It was founded in 1999 to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. The member countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom (U.K.) and the U.S.
During her address, Merkel called upon the world leaders to ensure equitable and fair distribution of vaccine jabs to all the nations of the world. She also said she will raise the matter with Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.
Speaking on the occasion, she said, “We will now speak with GAVI about when these negotiations will begin because I am somewhat worried that nothing has been done on that yet.”
Her remarks came after the world’s largest democracy United States (U.S.) announced that it would vaccinate its people as early as December 11, 2020. Post Merkel’s address, the world leaders agreed to support poor countries whose economies have been badly damaged by the crisis. They also pledged to address the immediate financing required to support the production and fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, along with the testing of the cases and treatment. Globally, there are 5,87,04,217 cases of COVID-19 and there have been 13,88,926 casualties.
The closing communique of the Summit read, “We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people.”
Addressing the Press Conference, the Minister of Economy & Planning, Saudi Arabia – Mohammad al-Jadaan said that there was a consensus among G20 nations that “if we leave any country behind, we will be behind.”
Sharing his thoughts on G20, the President of France – Emmanuel Macron tweeted, “The initiatives taken by France are now on the G20 agenda. Climate, access to vaccines for all, the fight against inequalities, African debt relief: important advances thanks to a united European front. We are moving forward, together!”
Taking it to twitter, the President of European Union (E.U.) Commission – Ursula von der Leyen tweeted, “Fighting climate change, #COVID19 & protecting our economies: global challenges require global solutions. This #G20Summit marks a new beginning for global cooperation. With its partners, Europe is ready to be a driver of this new beginning.”
Ursula also said she is glad that all G20 nations have agreed to make COVID-19 vaccines available and affordable for all. She called upon the leader to commit a find of U.S. $ 4.5 billion for the COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) by the end of the year.
The access to ACT-A or the Global Collaboration to Accelerate the Development, Production and Equitable Access to New COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, is a G20 initiative announced by pro-term Chair – Mohammed al-Jadaan on April 24, 2020. A call to action was published simultaneously by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 24, 2020.
On September 10, the United Nations (U.N.) and E.U. co-hosted the Inaugural Meeting of the Facilitation Council of the ACT-Accelerator, which so far has received U.S. $ 2.7 billion of the U.S. $ 35 billion necessary to secure the 2 billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million tests that the initiative deems is necessary to shorten the pandemic and speed economic global recovery.
