EU to Double Funds pledged to Covax Global Vaccine
European Commission, President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to announce a massive step-up in contributions for the humanitarian vaccine distribution mechanism Covax. This the commission said as western countries fend off accusations they are hoarding COVID-19 shots. According to EU sources, the EU executive chief is to pledge another 500 million euros (608 million […]
European Commission, President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to announce a massive step-up in contributions for the humanitarian vaccine distribution mechanism Covax.
This the commission said as western countries fend off accusations they are hoarding COVID-19 shots.
According to EU sources, the EU executive chief is to pledge another 500 million euros (608 million dollars) to Covax during Friday’s G7 summit.
The new contribution is to be made up of 300 million in grants and 200 million in loans or guarantees backed up by the EU budget.
In addition, there will be a new pledge of 100 million euros of in-kind assistance for vaccination campaigns with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the sources told dpa.
EU institutions pledged 500 million euros to the initiative in 2020, on top of individual pledges from the 27 member states.
The bloc has contracts supplying up 2.6 billion doses of vaccines for the respiratory disease much more than it actually needs for its population of 450 million.
