British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at a media briefing on coronavirus (COVID-19) in Downing Street on January 15, 2021 in London, England.
Dominic Lipinski | Getty Images
LONDON – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call on the leaders of the world’s largest economies to support efforts to accelerate the development of new vaccines.
Johnson, who will chair a virtual meeting with G-7 leaders Friday, is expected to outline an ambition to reduce the time to develop new vaccines by two-thirds to 100 days.
A Downing Street statement said the development of a coronavirus vaccine in about 300 days was a “massive and unprecedented global achievement.”
“By shortening the time to develop new vaccines for new diseases even further, we may be able to prevent the catastrophic health, economic and social consequences of this crisis,” the government said.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations first proposed this 100-day goal earlier this year.
“The development of viable coronavirus vaccines offers the tempting prospect of a return to normalcy, but we should not rest on our laurels,” Johnson said ahead of the meeting.
“As leaders of the G7, today we have to say never again,” he added, urging the coalition of leaders to use “collective ingenuity” to ensure that “vaccines, treatments and tests are ready. to future health threats. ”
Johnson has asked the UK Government’s Chief Science Advisor Patrick Vallance to work with international partners including the World Health Organization and CEPI, along with industry and scientific experts to advise the G-7 on accelerating vaccine development , treatments and tests.
At Friday’s meeting, Johnson will also confirm that the UK will share the bulk of any future excess doses of coronavirus vaccines with Covax. This is a global initiative, co-led by the WHO and CEPI, among others, with the aim of providing low-income countries fair access to coronavirus vaccines.
Last month, the World Health Organization’s top official warned that the world was on the brink of a “catastrophic moral failure” over unequal vaccination against Covid.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on January 18 condemned what he described as a “me-first approach” from high-income countries, saying it is self-destructive and endangers the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
Almost all high-income countries have prioritized the distribution of vaccines to their own populations. The international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres has described what we see today in terms of global access to vaccines as “far from being an equality picture.”
Friday’s meeting will be the first in the UK’s 2021 “G-7 Presidency”. It will also be President Joe Biden’s first major multilateral engagement.
Johnson had drawn up a five-point plan at the United Nations General Assembly last year to prevent future pandemics. This will be the focus of the British G-7 presidency on Friday.