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G-7 Leaders Are Set To Pledge 1 Billion Coronavirus Vaccines To Other Countries

President Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speak during a bilateral meeting ahead of the G-7 summit on Thursday in Carbis Bay, England.
Patrick Semansky
/
AP
President Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speak during a bilateral meeting ahead of the G-7 summit on Thursday in Carbis Bay, England.

World leaders of the Group of Seven are expected to announce Friday a commitment to share 1 billion of their COVID-19 vaccine resources with lower-income countries struggling to control the spread of the virus.

On Thursday, President Biden announced plans for the U.S. to donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine globally. The first 200 million are expected to be distributed this year and the rest will follow in 2022.

"Our values call on us to do everything that we can to vaccinate the world against COVID-19," Biden said of the decision. "It's also in America's self-interest. As long as the virus rages elsewhere, there's a risk of new mutations that could threaten our people."

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the U.S. make up the G-7.

The move by the wealthy democracies to share their vaccine stockpiles comes as relatively high vaccination levels in those countries have led to a decline in infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Enough improvements have been made in the U.S. and U.K. for coronavirus-related protocols to ease.

But in South Asia and Latin America, countries are still struggling to contain the virus.

In late May, the World Health Organization urged wealthier countries to contribute more to COVAX and requested at least 1 billion excess doses by the end of 2021. The COVAX program distributes mass quantities of vaccines to countries based on their populations.

"By donating vaccines to COVAX alongside domestic vaccination programmes, the most at-risk populations can be protected globally, which is instrumental to ending the acute phase of the pandemic, curbing the rise and threat of variants, and accelerating a return to normality," WHO said in a statement in May.

Biden and the other G-7 leaders are in the U.K. for the first meeting in about two years. The meeting is set to open Friday at Carbis Bay, a seaside resort in Cornwall in southwest England.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jaclyn Diaz is a reporter on Newshub.

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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