Key vaccine group urges solidarity ahead of summit

PARIS: The head of the global vaccine alliance has warned “nobody is safe unless everybody is safe” from the coronavirus, urging international solidarity ahead of a fund-raising summit as the pandemic threatens to trigger a resurgence of preventable diseases.

Scientists are racing to identify and test possible vaccines for Covid-19 as nations grapple with the economic and societal consequences of the virus lockdowns.

Seth Berkley of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, said the international community must ensure all countries will have access to any potential vaccines, regardless of their wealth. “This is a global problem that needs a global solution and we have to all work together,” he said.

He spoke ahead of a virtual summit hosted by Britain on Thursday, where Gavi hopes to raise at least $7.4 billion to continue vaccination programmes against diseases like measles, polio and typhoid that have been disrupted by the pandemic.

The meeting will also see Gavi and its partners launch a financing drive to purchase potential Covid-19 vaccines, scale up their production, and support delivery to developing nations.

The fund-raising goal for Covid-19 is $2 billion, although Berkley said it was an initial sum as they kick-start negotiations with manufacturers and could go up “substantially”. The meeting comes as the pandemic exposes new ruptures in international cooperation.

The US last week announced it would pull out of the WHO and there are fears America may use its economic clout to buy up vaccines.