'Low income nations must be provided with first COVID vaccine doses': Macron at G-20 meet

French President Emmanuel Macron on November 21 said at a live-streamed address that nations across the globe must create a system that includes disturbing first doses of potential coronavirus vaccines to “least developed countries”. Macron was speaking during the two-day virtual G20 meeting held via video-conference, projected in Diriyah district of Saudi’s capital Riyadh. At least 20 biggest economies of the world debated about how to make the therapeutic drugs, COVID-19 vaccines, and the tests available to the poorest nations. 

"We need to avoid at all costs a scenario of a two-speed world where only the richer can protect themselves against the virus and restart normal lives," French President Emmanuel Macron told the summit.

Macron said that the G20 wealthy nations had the advanced technology for mass manufacturing the experimental vaccines and other tools to combat the novel coronavirus infection sufficient to reach the underprivileged population of the world. “I suggest that efforts should be combined towards building a system that promotes the first doses of the vaccine produced by the companies to be directed towards the least developed countries,” the French President said.

Backing Macron’s calls, the European Union appealed to the G20 nations to invest more funds into the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator of WHO’s COVAX initiative. "At the G20 Summit, I called for $4.5 billion to be invested in ACT Accelerator by the end of 2020, for procurement & delivery of COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines everywhere," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter. "We need to show global solidarity," she said. Meanwhile, Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the meeting stated that his country was dedicated to distributing the Sputnik-V globally and was even in the process of manufacturing a second and third vaccine.

Read: Moderna To Charge Governments $25-$37 Per Covid-19 Vaccine Dose; close To Deal With EU

Read: Pfizer-BioNTech Apply For Emergency Use Authorisation For Their COVID-19 Vaccine

Equitable access to tools

“China is willing to strengthen cooperation with other countries in the research and development, production, and distribution of vaccines,” China’s President Xi Jinping agreed. Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz stressed that the G20 nations must work to create conditions for affordable and equitable access to these tools for the population of the entire world. Under the COVAX programme, the WHO’s COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is working with the developing nations vaccine manufacturers to promote equitable access to safe and effective vaccines for poorer nations once they are licensed and approved. 

Read: Pfizer CEO Says COVID-19 Vaccine In 'FDA Hands'

Read: Australia Pledges $351 Million To Secure COVID-19 Vaccines For Asia & Indo-Pacific Region

(Image Credit: Twitter/@EmmanuelMacron)

French President