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- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged £ 571 million ($ 727 million) to an effort by the World Health Organization to ensure that a coronavirus vaccine is distributed fairly around the world.
- Johnson addressed the UN General Assembly in a recorded speech on Saturday. He said the COVID-19 pandemic caused countries to have divided approaches to mitigating its spread.
- He told the leaders that they “simply cannot continue in this way” and urged them to unite against the “common enemy” or the virus.
- Initially, the prime minister had been slow to issue stay-at-home mandates across the country and distribute the tests before contracting the virus himself on March 27.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK will commit £ 571 million ($ 727 million) to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed to the world’s poorest countries.
Johnson announced the move during a prerecorded speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday. The funding will go to COVAX, an effort led by the World Health Organization to develop, manufacture and distribute coronavirus vaccines uniformly around the world.
In his comments, Johnson urged countries to unite against the virus, which he called a “common enemy.” He said the coronavirus has divided countries, resulting in a global patchwork of coronavirus regulations and closed borders.
“After nine months of fighting COVID-19, the very notion of the international community seems, quite frankly, quite tattered,” Johnson said. “And we know that we just can’t continue this way. Unless we act together.”
The United States and China chose not to participate in COVAX, which according to an initial plan projects would raise funds from its richest member countries to release doses of vaccine to “all countries reach sufficient quantities to cover 20% of their population” before a second wave assigns the doses. based on the “COVID threat and vulnerability” of each country.
Initially, the prime minister had been slow to issue stay-at-home mandates across the country and distribute the tests before contracting the virus himself on March 27. Johnson ordered restaurants to close and people to work from home earlier this week after the country recorded thousands of new cases in various parts of the country. A September study found that coronavirus infections were doubling each week as people returned to work and increased social interaction.
Johnson also said he would increase funding for the WHO by 30%, or £ 340 million ($ 433 million) over the next four years.
“Here in the UK, the birthplace of Edward Jenner, who pioneered the world’s first vaccine, we are determined to do everything in our power to work with our friends at the UN, to heal those divisions and heal the world, “Johnson said.
