World leaders pledge billions to find vaccine
BRUSSELS — World leaders, organizations and banks on Monday pledged $8 billion for research to find a vaccine against the new coronavirus, but warned that it is just the start of an effort that must be sustained over time to beat the disease.
The funds, pledged at a videoconference summit hosted by the European Union, fell marginally short of the money being sought, but more could arrive in coming days. Notably absent from the event was the United States, where more than 68,000 people have died, and Russia.
Despite the shortfall, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, the target being sought Monday to help find a vaccine, new treatments and better tests for the disease would only ever amount to a “down payment” on the tools that will be needed to fight the virus.
“To reach everyone, everywhere, we likely need five times that amount,” Guterres said.
The pledges were hard to track. Some countries announced money for their own national research efforts combined with those they would offer to international organizations. Others also proposed a mix of loans with their funding. Pledges made toward vaccine research since Jan. 30 were also counted.
Among the larger contributions, Japan pledged more than $800 million while Germany offered $572 million. Italy and Spain, perhaps the hardest hit by the virus in Europe, each said they would provide more than $109 million.
Asked about the U.S. absence, which comes after it suspended funding to the World Health Organization, a senior official said that “the United States is in the process of providing $2.4 billion in global health, humanitarian and economic assistance toward the COVID-19 response.”