Some of the world's wealthiest countries including the UK promise to share the coronavirus vaccine with the poorest. Details of when and how are yet unknown. The leaders of the Group of Seven economic powers will hold their first meeting of 2021 on Friday. Millions of coronavirus vaccines have been snapped up by wealthy nations, while, some developing countries have very little or none. The UK has promised to share its surplus vaccines with the UN-backed COVAX effort to vaccinate the world's most vulnerable people.
UK PM Boris Johnson has said that he would encourage other G-7 nations to do the same. The UK will have several vaccines left-over as it has ordered more than 400 million doses of various vaccines. French President Emmanuel Macaron said that rich nations should share 4-5 per cent of their vaccine supply with poorer nations.
Macron also said that Russia and China are trying to gain influence over vaccines by offering doses made in their countries to some African nations.
Foreign Office minister James Cleverly told BBC the UK would be "looking at a figure significantly greater than that". He added that it would be difficult to say how much Britain would be able to donate.
Romilly Greenhill, Anti-poverty group the One Campaign's UK director said, the “virus won't wait on us to be ready before it mutates, so we need to get these vaccines around the world as quickly as possible.”
US President Joe Biden has also pledged to join the COVAX initiative.
