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By Kate Holton
CARBIS BAY, England, June 10 (Reuters) - British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson expects the Group of Seven to agree to
donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries
during its summit starting on Friday, and help innoculate the
world by the end of next year.
Just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to
supercharge the battle against the coronavirus with a donation
of 500 million Pfizer shots, Johnson said Britain would
give at least 100 million surplus vaccines to the poorest
nations.
Johnson has already called on G7 leaders to commit to
vaccinate the entire world by the end of 2022 and the group is
expected to pledge 1 billion doses during its three-day summit
in the English seaside resort of Carbis Bay.
Some campaign groups condemned the plan as a drop in the
ocean, with Oxfam estimating that nearly 4 billion people will
depend on COVAX for vaccines, the programme that distributes
COVID-19 shots to low and middle income countries.
"As a result of the success of the UK's vaccine programme we
are now in a position to share some of our surplus doses with
those who need them," Johnson will say on Friday, according to
excerpts of the announcement released by his office.
"In doing so we will take a massive step towards beating
this pandemic for good."
COVID-19 has killed around 3.9 million people and ripped
through the global economy, with infections reported in more
than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were
identified in China in December 2019.
While scientists have brought vaccines to market at
breakneck speeds - Britain has given a first dose to 77% of its
adult population and the United States 64% - they say the
pandemic will only end once all countries have been vaccinated.
With a global population nearing 8 billion and most people
needing two doses, if not booster shots to tackle variants as
well, campaigners said the commitments marked a start but world
leaders needed to go much further, and much faster.
"The G7's aim to provide 1 billion doses should be seen as
an absolute minimum, and the timeframe needs to speed up," said
Lis Wallace at anti-poverty campaign group ONE.
"We're in a race with this virus and the longer it's in the
lead the greater the risk of new, more dangerous variants
undermining global progress."
Of the 100 million British shots, 80 million will go to the
COVAX programme led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and
the rest will be shared bilaterally with countries in need.
Johnson echoed Biden in calling on his fellow leaders to
make similar pledges and for pharmaceutical companies to adopt
the Oxford-AstraZeneca model of providing vaccines at cost for
the duration of the pandemic.
Leaving poorer countries to deal with the pandemic alone
risks allowing the virus to further mutate and evade vaccines.
Charities have also said that logistical support will be needed
to help administer large numbers of vaccines in poorer
countries.
The British doses will be drawn from the stock it has
already procured for its domestic programme, and will come from
suppliers Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech,
Janssen, Moderna and others.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and
Grant McCool)
