(CNN) – In a statement marking the end of G7 summitBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that leaders of the world’s richest countries have promised more than a billion doses of a Covid-19 vaccine to the rest of the world, either directly or through Covax.
“A week ago, I asked my fellow leaders to help prepare and deliver the doses we need to vaccinate the entire world by the end of 2022. I am happy to announce that this weekend leaders pledged more than 1 billion doses, either directly or through Covax. And that includes 100 million from the UK to the world’s poorest, which is another big step towards vaccinating the world,” Johnson said.
“Today, more than 500 million people are safe thanks to the development and production of this vaccine,” Johnson said of the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine.
“What we as the G7 have to do is show the benefits of democracy, freedom and human rights to the rest of the world. We can make that happen through the history of medicine. We can do that by working together to prevent the devastation caused by the coronavirus from happening again.”
Earlier this week, Johnson announced that the UK would donate to the Covax Initiative and countries that need at least 100 million doses of surplus covid-19 vaccines over the next year.
Before the G7 summit, US President Joe Biden announced that his country plans to donate 500 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer around the world.
Regarding the schedule, officials said that Pfizer doses will start shipping next August, and that a total of 200 million doses will be delivered by the end of this year. The remaining 300 million doses will be delivered in the first half of 2022.