G7 vows to tackle future health threats together

Health ministers from the G7 bloc of wealthy nations met on Thursday in Britain to discuss sharing vaccines with poorer countries, as calls continue to ensure fairer global distribution of doses.

The meeting in Oxford in southern England came ahead of next week’s G7 summit, hosted by the UK, which is set to be dominated by discussion of the coronavirus pandemic and recovery plans.

“We’ll be working together with G7 partners to try to meet the objective that a vaccine is made available right across the world,” UK health secretary Matt Hancock told reporters.

The ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US vowed to “combat future health threats by working together”.

Queen to meet Biden

Queen Elizabeth II will meet with US President Joe Biden on June 13 after he attends a G7 summit in Britain, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday. Queen will meet the president and first lady Jill Biden at Windsor Castle west of London.