Angela Merkel Says Coronavirus Pandemic Won't End Until The Whole World Is Vaccinated

The pandemic will not end until everybody in the world has been immunized against Covid-19, according to Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Speaking to reporters after Fridays’ virtual G7 summit, Merkel said she had told G7 leaders that the “pandemic is not over until all people in the world have been vaccinated,” adding: “Everyone must participate….The [coronavirus] pandemic in particular has shown how much we are diverging from one another, worldwide.”

BYPASS THE CENSORS

You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

RT reports: On Friday the head of the EU’s executive body, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the bloc would put up €100 million ($121 million) to fund the Covid-19 vaccine rollout in Africa.

JOIN THE FIGHT: BECOME A CITIZEN JOURNALIST TODAY!

The Commission president said the EU would be helping to “ramp up” manufacturing capacity across the continent under vaccine-licensing agreements, as well as buying equipment and training staff.

The 27-nation bloc has also said it will double its contributions to the vaccine-sharing Covax facility, to a billion euro.

Germany, meanwhile, will contribute €1.5 billion to global efforts against the pandemic, and the G7 as a whole will contribute €10.3 billion, some of which will go towards Covax.

Covax is the World Health Organization (WHO)-backed initiative to try and ensure equitable access to a vaccine between the world’s more developed economies and poorer nations.

On Thursday, the WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for vaccine-producing countries to donate jabs to Covax, rather than act individually.