Before the online G7 summit, human rights organizations are calling for the corona vaccine to be distributed fairly.
Angela Merkel speaks at a press conference.
Human rights organizations call before the
G7 summit
and the
Munich Security Conference
, a fair distribution of
Corona
-
vaccines
.
Joe Biden
* is the new President of the
USA
* attending an international meeting for the first time.
Commitments to finance
vaccines
* in the fight against the
corona
* pandemic are made.
+++ 4.46 p.m .:
“It is important that the vaccine arrives,” replied
Merkel
to a journalist's question as to whether the vaccine was distributed fairly around the world.
There has to be a good balance, some of the European vaccines go to countries in Latin America and Asia.
+++ 4.42 p.m.:
Multilateralism must be strengthened, says
Angela Merkel
.
The corona pandemic in particular showed how dependent the countries of the world are on each other.
+++ 4:41 pm:
"The pandemic will only be defeated when everyone in the world has been vaccinated." The mutants of the coronavirus are very dangerous and could worsen the effectiveness of the vaccines, warns the
Chancellor
.
After the pandemic, the economy must be made sustainable, climate change, like the
corona crisis, is
a natural disaster.
According to Merkel, the WHO and WTO must be strengthened.
G7 summit with Angela Merkel: focus on fighting pandemics and recovering the economy
+++ 4.37 p.m .:
"That was a very constructive exchange," said
Merkel
at the press conference after the
G7 summit
.
Fighting the pandemic, the recovery of the global economy and engagement in Africa were the focus of the deliberations, said the Chancellor.
+++ 4:08 p.m.:
Angela Merkel
pledged another 1.5 billion euros
at the
G7 summit
for the global fight against Covid-19.
The development ministry announced that around one billion euros will go to the international vaccination alliance Gavi.
The remaining funds are intended to strengthen the World Health Organization and vaccine research, in particular on mutations of the coronavirus.
+++ 4 p.m.:
Chancellor
Angela Merkel
will
hold
a
press conference
shortly after the end of the
G7 summit
.
We will inform you about the events live.
G7 Summit and Munich Security Conference - Angela Merkel speaks to Joe Biden
Update from February 19, 2021, 11.30 a.m.:
Today, Friday, two important
international summits will
take place: on the one hand the
G7 summit
and on the other hand the
Munich Security Conference
.
The results of both events are eagerly awaited - not least because of the participation of
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and
US President Joe Biden
.
But what are both events about?
- an
overview
.
G7 summit:
The
G7 summit
will mainly focus on the development of the
corona pandemic
and the associated global
distribution
of
vaccines
.
The
United Kingdom is
chairing the digital summit
this year.
Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
recently called for international vaccine production to be accelerated.
It was an unprecedented global achievement
to develop
a
corona vaccine
within around 300 days
, he emphasized.
Now it is time to push the distribution.
He also called on the heads of state of the
G7
countries to give more financial support to the “Covax” vaccination initiative for the benefit of poor countries.
US President
Biden
plans to provide up to four billion US dollars for this.
The White House announced that it would initially pledge two billion dollars at the summit.
The
US government
wants to
release
another two billion dollars
over a period of two years if other donors had also fulfilled their commitments.
Federal Development Minister
Gerd Müller set the
goal of
vaccinating
at least 20 percent of the population in developing countries against the
coronavirus
by the end of the year
.
"At the moment a total of 27 billion euros are missing," he told the newspapers of the "Funke media group".
Munich Security Conference:
The focus of the
Munich Security Conference
will very likely be the
transatlantic relationship
between
Europe
and the
USA
.
There is talk of a new beginning.
The partnership had
hit rock bottom
under
Biden's
predecessor
Donald Trump
*.
The transatlantic coordinator of the federal government, Peter Beyer (CDU), told the "Rheinische Post" that he expected
Biden to provide
concrete statements on cooperation with the EU.
"A close Western alliance that goes far beyond the cooperation of the Obama years would be ideal."
G7 summit and Munich security conference on Friday (February 19, 2021)
Wolfgang Ischinger, head of the Munich Security Conference, also expects conflict issues such as dealing with China or Russia and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be dealt with.
First report from 02/18/2021, 3:30 p.m.:
Munich - On the occasion of the online meeting of the seven major economic
powers
(
G7
), development organizations have called for a global vaccination plan and greater commitment in the fight against the
coronavirus
.
Poorer countries need more help.
The
G7
round that will be held
on Friday
, in which the new US President
Joe Biden
will also take part
for the first time
, is also
expected to make
financial commitments to fight the pandemic and distribute
vaccines
.
This year, the federal government is making available 1.5 billion euros for the campaign of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other actors with the ACT Accelerator (Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator).
An important part is the Covax initiative, in which the development and distribution of
corona vaccines are
bundled in order to give all countries fair access.
Organization One criticizes G7 talks: Rich nations secure too much corona vaccine
Organization One criticized that rich nations were gaining access to many more
vaccines
than they needed.
Access is made more difficult for poorer countries.
If rich countries continued to have a monopoly on the first two billion vaccine doses, there could be twice as many
corona
deaths as if the vaccine were shared fairly, according to the organization on its website.
One called for
the
G7
countries to "plan carefully" to improve the global distribution of
vaccines
.
The transfer must begin before potential donor countries start accumulating excess vaccine doses.
"As long as the virus remains uncontrolled somewhere on the planet, it will continue to mutate, cross borders and wreak havoc in society and the global economy," said an analysis by the organization.
Corona pandemic and vaccine in focus: G7 discussion and online security conference
The G7 video call will take place tomorrow, Friday (February 19, 2021) under the chairmanship of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The official
G7
summit is due to take place in Cornwall, UK in June.
The virtual G7 summit is the first international meeting attended by the new US President
Joe Biden
.
Much hope is placed in it for an improvement in transatlantic relations.
In
addition to Germany, the USA and Great Britain,
the
G7 countries also
include France, Italy, Canada and Japan.
On the same day there will also be an online version of the
Munich Security Conference
, which has been postponed in its usual form.
Here, too, it should be about transatlantic relations, but other topics are climate protection and also the corona pandemic.
In addition to the new US President
Joe Biden
, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), UN Secretary General António Guterres and Bill Gates will speak at the conference.
The meeting can be followed online in the live stream.
António Guterres: "Distribution of the corona vaccines unfair"
Even UN Secretary General António Guterres had criticized this week that the distribution of
Corona
-
vaccines
is totally "unbalanced and unfair".
Because so far ten countries have vaccinated three quarters of all available vaccine doses, he criticized.
130 other countries, however, had not yet received a single dose.
He called for a global vaccination plan that would involve researchers, manufacturers and donors.
(Friederike Meier, Tobias Utz, dpa / AFP)
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.