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Joe Biden before departure
Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
Joe Biden allegedly wants to be a pioneer in a more equitable distribution of the vaccines against the coronavirus in the world after the US initially placed its own supply of vaccines against the pandemic over international solidarity.
Shortly before leaving for the G7 summit in Europe, the US president fueled speculation about his plans. Before boarding Air Force One, Biden said he had a vaccine schedule for the world and would announce it, according to Reuters news agency. He did not disclose any further details.
A joint draft for the summit in Great Britain shows that the US and the EU want to reduce export barriers to the export of corona vaccines and drugs against the virus.
A joint task force is to ensure that supply chains are kept open and "unnecessary export restrictions" are avoided.
The tenor of the paper is that voluntary sharing of technology is important in order to ramp up production.
The proposal made some time ago by Biden to temporarily revoke the patent protection for corona vaccines is not in the draft.
Summit marathon for Biden
Biden flew with his wife Jill on Wednesday from the Andrews military airfield near the US capital Washington for Europe. The President and First Lady are expected in Great Britain on Wednesday evening (local time), where Biden will meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday and attend the G7 summit in Cornwall from Friday. It is Biden's first international trip since taking office in January. Because of the corona pandemic, the president had initially only made trips within the country.
On the fringes of the G7 summit, which lasts until Sunday, Biden wants to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a bilateral discussion.
At the end of their visit to Great Britain, the US President and First Lady will be received by Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday at Windsor Castle near London.
On Monday, Biden will take part in the NATO summit in Brussels, where the next day a high-level meeting with EU representatives is on the program.
A highly anticipated summit meeting of Biden with Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place in Geneva on Wednesday next week, before the US president returns to Washington.
as / Reuters / dpa