In a landmark agreement at the recently concluded G7 summit, held in Cornwall, Britain, world leaders pledged to support the equitable access of vaccines globally with a donation of 870 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the United Nations-backed vaccine sharing facility, COVAX.

According to a statement released by the World Health Organization on Sunday (June 13), in making its pledge of vaccine donations, the Group of Seven countries aims to supply COVAX with at least half of its total pledge amount by the end of 2021.

As such, COVAX partners have welcomed this commitment, along with continued support for exporting in significant proportions, promotion of voluntary licensing and not-for-profit global production.

Given the supply gap that the vaccine sharing facility has faced, primary focus remains on securing as many shared doses as possible, particularly as the third quarter of this year is when gaps between deliveries and countries ability to absorb doses is expected to be greatest.

On the matter of donations, CEO of Gavi Vaccine Alliance, Dr Seth Berkley, said: “This is an important moment of global solidarity and a critical milestone in the push to ensure those most at risk, everywhere are protected.”

He added: “As we strive towards our goal of ending the acute phase of the pandemic, we look forward to working with countries to ensure these doses pledged are quickly turned into doses delivered.”

Highlighting the current state of the pandemic, Executive Director of UNICEF, Henrietta Fore, stated: “We have reached a grim milestone in this pandemic. There are already more dead from COVID-19 in 2021 than in all of last year. Without urgent action, this devastation will continue.”

She continued: “Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines represents the clearest pathway out of this pandemic for all of us — children included. (For this reason) UNICEF thanks (the) G7 member states for their significant pledges and continued support.”

Despite this, Fore noted that “much work remains to continue to ramp up both the amount and the pace of supply to the rest of the world because when it comes to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, our best interests and our best natures align. This crisis will not be over until it is over for everyone.”