Falmouth (UK), 10 June (EFE). The United Kingdom announced today that it will donate 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines between this year and next to contribute to the G7 goal of supporting 1,000 million doses of immunization worldwide.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ahead of a summit of leaders of the Group of Advanced Democracies in Cornwall (England) on Friday, indicated that committed doses come from “surpluses” that the UK will not use.
This donation comes in addition to the British “financial support” for the COVAX program to accelerate the arrival of vaccines to developing countries, as well as the general British “support” for the development of the preparation from Oxford University and the pharmaceutical company. AstraZeneca, Johnson elaborated in a statement.
The head of government confirmed that the United Kingdom is the fourth donor country to COVAX, promoted by the World Health Organization, to which it has contributed 548 million pounds (634 million euros).
The British announcement comes after the United States submitted that it would donate 500 million vaccines from Pfizer through this program.
Johnson, the host of the G7 summit, has advanced that he will urge the group’s leaders to “help vaccinate the entire world before the end of next year”.
The UK will donate the first 5 million doses before October, and it will go mainly to the “world’s poorest”, and plans to provide another 25 million doses this year, and the rest over the next year.
80% of the donations will be managed through the COVAX program, while the rest will be distributed according to bilateral agreements with countries that need them.
“Since the start of this pandemic, the UK has led the way in efforts to protect humanity from this deadly disease,” the British Prime Minister said.
“Over a year ago, we funded the development of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine with the idea of distributing it at cost worldwide,” he added.
Johnson explained that thanks to the “success of the vaccination programme” in the UK, his government can now “share some of the surplus doses with those who need them”.
“At the G7 summit, I hope that other leaders will show a similar commitment so that together we can vaccinate the world before the end of next year,” he said. EFE
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