France Prez Macron urges European nations to send 13 million COVID vaccine doses to Africa

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged the European countries and the US to send at least 13 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the poorest nation—Africa. Speaking at the G7 and Munich Security Conference, the French leader vouched for Africa’s health agenda and its long-stalled vaccination plan suggesting a “simple idea” which, he said, was to send coronavirus vaccines to African nations. Macron told the virtual conference that the demand was put forth to him by the African leaders, and while Africa has 6.5 million caregivers, the continent was in dire need of 13 million vaccine doses to immunize its population, he said. 

“If we Europeans and Americans deliver this as soon as possible it’s worth a lot of credibilities. It represents 0.43 percent of the doses that we have ordered. If we know how to do this then the West will have a presence and then we will be considered in Africa,” he said from Paris via video conference. Further, the French President warned that if the West ignored the shipment demands from the African regions they will, under pressure from the population, procure the doses from the Chinese or the Russians and the power of the West, the Europeans, and Americans, will be 'only a concept, and not a reality'.

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Macron: Transfer '3-5 percent' stock

Furthermore, in a statement to FT, the French leader later suggested that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was "ok" with his proposal and was willing to participate in the initiative. “Let's transfer 3-5 percent of the vaccines we have in stock to Africa. This would have no impact on the rhythm of vaccine strategies in rich countries. It won't delay it by a single day given the way we use our doses,” Macron told the countries participating in the conference.

“I have more than 10 million of our fellow citizens who have families on the other side of the Mediterranean,” he insisted, pressing the nations to deliver vaccines to the poorer nations.

Further, Macron condemned the "idea to take hold that hundreds of millions of vaccines are being given in rich countries and that we are not starting in poor countries”. Earlier, similarly, during the two-day virtual G20 meeting held via video-conference, Macron had insisted that nations across the globe must create a system that includes disturbing first doses of potential coronavirus vaccines to “least developed countries”.

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(Image Credit: AP)