Brussels: The European Union and the United States have created a new partnership to get 70% of the global population vaccinated against COVID-19 by the next UN General Assembly, the chief EU commissioner said on Wednesday.
“Glad to announce a new partnership with the US to help vaccinate the world. We aim for a 70% global vaccination rate by UNGA 2022,” Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.
The EU and US will boost COVID-19 vaccine production in low- and lower-middle-income countries and coordinate investments to build regional vaccine manufacturing sites.
The EU will also work with the US and G20 allies to set up a new financial intermediary fund, which will raise funding for global health security.
Von der Leyen said the EU was already investing more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in sharing mRNA technology with Africa and would share out another 500 million vaccine doses by mid-2022. She vowed that every second dose made in the EU would be shipped abroad.
