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French President Emanuel Macron
Photo:
Federico Pestellini / imago images / PanoramiC
The G7 countries want to improve the access of poorer countries to corona vaccines.
In total, the seven leading industrialized nations pledged financial aid amounting to 7.5 billion dollars (6.2 billion euros) for global vaccination initiatives, according to a joint statement by the heads of state and government at the end of their online summit on Friday.
Germany is contributing 1.5 billion euros in aid.
The aim of the industrialized countries is to make corona vaccines available worldwide.
Last year, the ACT-A program was created for this purpose, which bundles the international efforts in the fight against the corona pandemic.
Most of the funds pledged at the G7 summit will go to the Covax international vaccination campaign.
In addition to the fair distribution of vaccines, it should also be about the provision of corona tests and drugs as well as strengthening the health systems in poorer countries.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) spoke at the summit of an "elementary question of justice".
The corona pandemic will only be defeated "when everyone in the world has been vaccinated," she emphasized.
For Germany, this means that, in addition to the financial aid, it "if necessary" has to "give" some of its own vaccines to poorer countries, said Merkel.
To what extent and when this could happen has not yet been determined.
She assured that "no vaccination appointment in Germany will be endangered".
Macron wants to give vaccination doses to poorer countries as quickly as possible
French President Emmanuel Macron campaigned for rich countries to deliver four to five percent of their vaccine doses to poorer countries as quickly as possible.
At the virtual Munich security conference, he also suggested that Europeans and Americans deliver 13 million doses of vaccine for African nurses to African countries as quickly as possible.
This number is necessary to protect the 6.5 million African health care workers against Covid-19 - and thus also the health systems of their countries.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose government will hold the rotating G7 presidency this year, also emphasized the need for global immunization against the coronavirus.
"We have to make sure the whole world gets vaccinated because this is a global pandemic," Johnson said.
It is "not useful" when one country is "far ahead of another" when it comes to vaccinations.
In their closing statement, Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Joe Biden and the other G7 leaders underlined their determination to cooperate better again in order to defeat the pandemic and work for a recovery in the global economy.
The prime ministers of Italy and Japan, Mario Draghi and Yoshihide Suga, also took part as newcomers to the group of seven.
The G7 countries also include France, Canada and Great Britain, which currently holds the presidency.
It was the first G7 summit with the new US President Biden after his predecessor Donald Trump repeatedly torpedoed the Western community of values with his solo efforts.
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