Leaders pledge billions for virus vaccine research
BRUSSELS ( AP) — World leaders, organizations and banks on Monday pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) for research to find a vaccine against the new coronavirus, but warned that it is just the start of an e ort that must be sustained over time to beat the disease.
The funds, pledged at a video-conference summit hosted by the European Union, fell marginally short of the 7.5 billion euros being sought, but more money could arrive in coming days. Notably absent from the event was the United States, where more than 67,000 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.
Governments have reported around 3.5 million infections and more than 247,000 deaths from the virus, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. But deliberately concealed outbreaks, low testing rates and the strain on health care systems mean the true scale of the pandemic is much greater.
People in many countries across the globe, and notably in Europe this week, are cautiously returning to work but authorities remain wary of a second wave of infections, and a vaccine is the only real golden bullet to allow something like normal life to resume.
“In the space of just a few hours we have collectively pledged 7.4 billion euros for vaccines, diagnostics and treatments,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, wrapping up the event after three hours. “All this money will help kick-start unprecedented global cooperation.”
The original aim was to gather around 4 billion euros ($4.37 billion) for vaccine research, some 2 billion euros for treatments and 1.5 billion ($1.64 billion) for testing.
The pledges were hard to track, beyond coming in various currencies. Some countries announced money for their own national research e orts combined with those they would o er to international organizations. Others also proposed a mix of loans with their funding. Pledges made toward vaccine research since Jan. 30 were also counted.
Asked about the U.S. absence, which comes after it suspended funding to the World Health Organization, a senior o cial said that “the United States is in the process of providing $2.4 billion in global health, humanitarian, and economic assistance towards the COVID-19 response, and we continue to ensure that the substantial U.S. funding and scientific e orts on this front remain an essential and coordinated part of this worldwide e ort against COVID-19.”
The official wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
French president Emmanuel Macron said he is confident that the U.S. will join the initiative at some point, stressing that he personally discussed the issue with President Donald Trump. Macron noted that the U.S. “is on the sidelines” but added that it doesn’t compromise or slow down the project.