G20 countries pledge to equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines

"We have mobilized resources to address the urgent financial challenges in global health to support research, development, production and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 diagnostics, treatment and vaccines. We will make every effort to ensure that all people have access to them on an equal basis and at affordable prices," said the G20 Summit Declaration. The participants noted that they recognize the role of broad-based immunisation as a "global public good".

The summit noted that the novel coronavirus pandemic has become a major blow to the global economy and people's lives. "We note the urgent need to control the spread of the virus, which is key to supporting global economic recovery. We are determined to continue to use all means at our disposal, as long as necessary, to save lives, jobs and incomes, to support the recovery of the world economy, and to increase the resilience of the financial system while preventing risks of economic activity decline," they said.

Coronavirus has been detected in more than 58.1 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 12 million cases are reported in the USA, 9 million and 6 million in India and Brazil, respectively. There are 2.1 million cases of COVID-19 in France.

source: reuters.com