Britain to send 20 million of COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries
October 30, 2021, 7:14 am

Britain to send 20 million of COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries

UK-London-Big ben/Pixabay

The Indian Timre reported according to Reuters, Britain will send 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to developing countries by the end of this year, in what Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell other world leaders is a much needed step to speed up the post-pandemic economic recovery.

Leaders of the world's 20 richest countries are gathering in Rome at a meeting which Johnson hopes will make progress on producing firm commitments to cut emissions before climate talks in Glasgow at the United Nations COP26 summit.

But he also needs to get the backing from developing countries, some of which are already experiencing the devastating impact of global warming and have struggled to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19 as Western countries race ahead.

At a meeting of the leaders of the seven largest advanced economies earlier this year, Britain pledged at least 100 million shots as part of a G7 aim to offer 1 billion doses, a scheme critics said was too slow and unambitious.

COVID-19-Astrazeneca-COVID vaccination/Pixabay

COVID-19-Astrazeneca-COVID vaccination/Pixabay

Britain said in a statement it had delivered 10 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, with 10 million more to be delivered in the coming weeks, taking the total to 30.6 million in 2021.

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doses and also donate all the 20 million Janssen doses ordered by the government to the COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization and the GAVI vaccine alliance.

According to his Downing Street office, Johnson will tell G20 leaders: "Like a waking giant, the world economy is stirring back to life. But the pace of recovery will depend on how quickly we can overcome COVID."

"Our first priority as the G20 must be to press ahead with the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines."

Mass vaccination against the coronavirus is seen as crucial to restoring economic growth, trade and travel, but Western nations are racing ahead of developing countries, many of which have the lowest inoculation rates and rising cases.

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One hundred former leaders and government ministers from around the world have called on Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who is hosting the G20 meeting, to address what they said was an unfair distribution of vaccines.

They said the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada would be stockpiling 240 million unused vaccines by the end of the month, which these nations' military could immediately airlift to countries in greater need.

It said, by the end of February a total of 1.1 billion surplus vaccines could be transferred.

Source: indiantimes

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.