UK PM Johnson to call G7 leaders to speed up new vaccines development

London, Feb 19: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will call on Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States to speed up the process for developing new vaccines, treatments and tests for common pathogens, as he chairs the first G7 leaders’ meeting under UK’s presidency on Friday, his office announced. According to the statement, Johnson will urge the heads of state or government of the organization to cut the time to develop new vaccines by two-thirds to 100 days, following the unprecedented global achievement that saw a coronavirus vaccine develop in approximately 300 days. “By harnessing our collective ingenuity, we can ensure we have the vaccines, treatments and tests to be battle-ready for future health threats, as we beat Covid-19 and build back better together,” the prime minister said ahead of the meeting. Johnson will also encourage G7 leaders to increase their funding for the COVAX initiative for equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines. On Thursday, he confirmed that the UK will share the majority of any future surplus coronavirus vaccines from its supply with COVAX procurement pool to support developing countries, the statement added. Friday’s virtual closed-door meeting will be the first gathering of G7 leaders since April 2020 ahead of the group´s face-to-face summit scheduled for Cornwall, England, in June.