Coronavirus – More than six billion pledges for a vaccine

Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came to the aid of the European Commission on Saturday to raise funds to develop a vaccine against Covid-19. Over six billion euros (some 6.38 billion francs) have been raised.

International stars of music, cinema, sports and fashion have joined an online concert to finance research for the creation of such a vaccine and its availability to the most vulnerable populations. poor all over the planet.

Sponsored event

The European Commission sponsored this virtual event intended to generate financial contributions, in collaboration with the organization headquartered in the United States Global Citizen. In total, according to the EU, 40 governments helped with the preparations.

Ursula von der Leyen inaugurated it by announcing that it had obtained 6.15 billion euros in pledges on Saturday, including 4.9 billion from the European Investment Bank, in partnership with the Commission.

Sixteen billion in total

On May 4, during a first summit organized to raise funds, the EU, governments and wealthy philanthropists pledged to contribute around ten billion euros. This already makes almost 16 billion euros in total.

“We will not end this pandemic until it is over everywhere,” said Ursulavon der Leyen at the opening of this virtual event. “It means that everyone in the world has access to tests, treatments and vaccines no matter where they live, where they come from and how they look,” she said.

President of the Confederation Simonetta Sommaruga has announced that Switzerland will release an additional 20 million francs. This sum will be invested locally by the World Food Program (WFP), Unicef, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

With “The Rock”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a former professional wrestler turned actor, was the host of a concert on Saturday which was to be broadcast on the internet, alongside notably Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron, Forest Whitaker or Angelique Kidjo.

Philanthropist Melinda Gates and Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were also involved.

(ATS / NXP)

Posted: Jun 27, 2020, 9:01 p.m.–