At the UN (UNGA 76) on 22 September European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden announced a new partnership between the European Union and the United States to accelerate immunisation against Covid-19 to reach a global immunisation rate of 70% by the UN General Assembly of 2022 (see EUROPE 12791/1).
“Vaccination is the most effective response to the Covid pandemic. The United States and the EU are technological leaders in advanced vaccine platforms, given decades of investments in research and development. It is vital that we aggressively pursue an agenda to vaccinate the world”, say the EU and US in a joint statement.
In particular, both parties commit to sharing vaccine doses, primarily through the Covax Facility, to “urgently increase immunisation rates in low- and lower-middle-income countries” (see EUROPE 12791/1). The US is donating more than 1.1 billion doses and the EU will provide more than 500 million, the statement said.
Partners are calling on countries that are able to vaccinate their populations to double their dose-sharing commitments or make significant contributions to the provision of vaccines.
The EU and the US also intend to strengthen the global supply of vaccines and anti-Covid-19 therapeutics by cooperating in a joint working group on manufacturing and supply chains in the fight against the pandemic.
On 20 September, EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton met in Washington DC with the head of the White House’s Covid-19 team, Jeff Zients, to launch the working group.
In a statement issued on 23 September, WHO/Europe Regional Director Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge “warmly welcome[d] the news that the European Union and the United States are committing to the WHO goal”.
See the EU-US statement: https://bit.ly/3o0lrDV (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)