The focus of the two-day meeting of the seven largest industrial nations (G7) is the distribution of corona vaccines to poorer countries. Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn said at the start of a meeting of the G7 health ministers in Oxford, with a view to the USA and Great Britain, that he wants to advertise once again that it is not only the European Union that exports vaccines to the world. “Whether we can bring this virus or this pandemic under control will also be decided in Africa, India or Asia,” said Spahn. Bringing the pandemic “under control in Germany and Europe is not enough, we have to fight it worldwide”.
Spahn told the German press agency that 50 percent of the vaccines produced in the European Union are and have been exported. The host country Great Britain, which holds the G7 Presidency, and the USA have so far exported almost no vaccines.
According to the British Minister of Health, more than two billion doses of corona vaccine have now been injected worldwide (archive picture from Malawi)
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Spahn went on to say that the democracies would have to oppose a politicized vaccine distribution from Russia or China, for example. This can be observed with Russia in the Western Balkans and with China in Africa and South America. The G7 must make it clear that they want a good partnership – but not to gain political influence, but to lead the world out of the pandemic.
British praise AstraZeneca development
British Health Minister Matt Hancock is also campaigning for better access to corona vaccines worldwide in order to get the pandemic under control. He again emphasized that Great Britain was already making a major contribution with the development of the AstraZeneca vaccine and production at cost.
The US government released details of the distribution of the first promised 25 million vaccine doses to other states. She wants to distribute a large part of her donations through the international vaccination program COVAX. Of this, about six million doses are planned for Latin America and the Caribbean, about seven million doses for South and Southeast Asia and about five million doses for Africa. The US government plans to sell around 6 million cans directly to other countries, such as neighboring Canada and Mexico. So far, she has promised to share 80 million vaccine doses with other countries by the end of June.
IMF and World Bank call on G7 to act
The leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank called on the seven leading industrialized nations to deliver excess vaccines to developing countries as quickly as possible. In addition, the manufacturers would have to ramp up their production and, like the states, increase transparency in the award of contracts, financing and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, according to a joint statement to the G7. “The wider distribution of vaccines is both an urgent economic need and a moral imperative.”
While the health ministers continue to discuss in Oxford on Friday, including on better early warning systems for future pandemics, the G7 finance ministers will meet in London. There, the IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva is to present a 50 billion dollar plan that provides for an end to the corona pandemic by accelerating global vaccination programs.
qu / jj (dpa, rtr, afp)
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