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UK to deliver 9 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to vulnerable countries
According to the BBC, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has said that the UK will begin delivering nine million doses of coronavirus vaccine to "the most vulnerable countries" this week.
This batch makes up the first part of a pledge by the government to donate 100 million surplus jabs before the middle of 2022.
The BBC noted Kenya, Jamaica and Indonesia are among the countries receiving the vaccines.
It added that Mr Raab said the donations were in the UK's "moral" and "direct interest".
Speaking on a visit to an AstraZeneca production site in Oxford, Mr Raab said: "We won't be safe in the UK until everyone is safe in the world."
Last month, during a summit in Cornwall, the G7 group of leading industrial nations pledged to donate one billion coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer countries, with US President Joe Biden announcing that his country would provide 500 million doses.
The majority of the vaccines will be delivered through the Covax programme, which aims to provide vaccines for at least 20% of the population in 92 low or medium-income countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that "to truly end the pandemic" 70% of the global population needs to be vaccinated, which would require 11 billion doses.
Source: BBC
Image source: EPA-BBC
