At G7 summit, Joe Biden urges world leaders to join US in sharing coronavirus vaccines with struggling nations
- Biden said the G7 nations on Friday would join the US in outlining their vaccine donation commitments
- Biden earlier promised the US would donate 500 million doses of vaccine to help speed the pandemic’s end
Speaking in England before the summit meeting of the Group of Seven, Biden announced the US commitment to vaccine sharing, which comes on top of 80 million doses he has already pledged by the end of the month. He argued it was in both America’s interests and the world’s to make vaccination widely and speedily available everywhere.
“We’re going to help lead the world out of this pandemic working alongside our global partners,” Biden said, announcing that on Friday the G-7 nations would join the US in outlining their vaccine donation commitments.
It’s a remarkable turnaround of America’s standing from a year ago, when the US was the deadliest hotspot of the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing the cancellation of the G7 summit it was due to host. Now, the country is emerging as a model for how to successfully recover from more than 15 months of global crisis.
“In times of trouble, Americans reach out to offer help,” Biden said, saying the US doses would “supercharge” the global vaccination campaign. “Our values call on us to do everything that we can to vaccinate the world against Covid-19
He added the doses would be shared “with no strings attached” or “pressure for favours.”
“We’re doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic, and that’s it,” he said.