US vows $4bn for Covax, returns to climate pact
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden was set to announce on Friday a contribution of $4 billion for the Covax programme at his first G7 meeting. He was later expected to say at the Munich Security Conference that “democratic process is under assault” all over the world and that democracies should work to “prove that our model isn’t a relic of our history”.
Covax is a collaboration involving the WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
Biden was set announce America’s contribution to the Covid-19 vaccine programme at a virtual meeting with leaders of the G7 countries. The group comprises the US, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, Japan and Italy.
The first tranche of $2 billion from the US will go directly to the Gavi vaccine alliance, the White House said in a note. The remaining $2 billion will be released over 2021 and 2022.
India is the largest beneficiary of the Covax programme, clinching a deal earlier this month to receive 97.1 million of the 2 billion vaccine doses to be distributed under the programme.
At the other summit, hosted by Munich, Biden was to say, “In too many places, including in Europe and the United States, democratic progress is under assault,” according to excerpts released by the White House.
Biden will further say, “We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people. That is our galvanising mission. Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it. Strengthen it. Renew it. We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of our history. It’s the single best way to realise the promise of our future.”
Back in Paris Agreement
In a major development, the US returned to the Paris Agreement on the climate crisis in a reversal of a Trump era position. “Now, as momentous as our joining the agreement was in 2016 - and as momentous as our rejoining is today - what we do in the coming weeks, months, and years is even more important,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a statement.