Glodbal Health Summit: Rich countries acknowledge vaccine inequities but offer little to rapidly close the gap

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Sat, 2021-05-22 16:58 — mike kraft

Leaders of rich countries acknowledge vaccine inequities at global health summit but offer little to rapidly close the gap G-20 leaders offered sometimes-conflicting ideas for expanding vaccine access. Chico Harlan, Emily Rauhala Washington Post

ROME — With pandemic inequities deepening, the leaders of rich nations on Friday called the divide in vaccine access unacceptable, shameful, even immoral, but offered few new commitments that would close the gap in an immediate way.

Instead, at a virtual summit in which some statements were prerecorded, leaders took turns offering sometimes-conflicting ideas for expanding vaccine access, and countries announced a drip-drip of largely unilateral and not-entirely-new moves.

Italy and Germany said they would donate doses to lower-income countries, adding to previous promises from France, New Zealand, the United States and a handful of other countries.

The European Union said it would expand its vaccine diplomacy, helping Africa build new manufacturing hubs.

E.U. leaders also promoted their role in encouraging vaccine makers to increase supply to lower-income countries at reduced prices. Johnson & Johnson on Friday announced 200 million doses for Covax, a struggling WHO-backed initiative to distribute vaccines. Pfizer, meanwhile, pledged 2 billion doses for lower-income countries over the next 18 months, though a spokesman told The Washington Post that the portion for this year was not a new allocation. And while E.U. leaders mentioned 100 million doses from Moderna, the U.S. company did not release a statement about any new deals. ...

Of the roughly 1.5 billion coronavirus vaccine doses administered worldwide, only 0.3 percent of the inoculations have taken place in low-income countries....

ALSO SEE: Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide -CNN

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