Canada pledges millions of Covid vaccine doses to poorer countries

The G20 summit in Rome on Saturday discussed health issues, particularly the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that Canada would donate 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to poorer countries to help vaccination efforts in countries where large numbers still remain to be vaccinated.

The vaccine sharing will be done via COVAX, a global alliance of countries led by the World Health Organisation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rome, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada is boosting its existing commitment to COVAX, by some 73 million more shots to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are more readily available worldwide.

Canada will immediately provide 10 million doses of the vaccine and then provide funding to procure 63 million more shots by the end of 2022. Altogether, a generous estimate of 200 million is expected although a proper timeframe for production and delivery is unclear as of now. Vaccine equity was one of the top-billed subjects at the G20 summit with fears of the new Delta variant high even as vaccine manufacturers are swamped with orders from richer countries seeking to procure shots for their citizens.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown along with a host of former leaders had called the 'vaccine gap' Between rich and poor countries 'unacceptable' in a letter to Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.