COVID-19 vaccine access to poorer nations worrying, nothing has been done: Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has raised concerns over access of COVID-19 vaccines among the poorest countries in the world. While the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have already showcased promising results with more than 94% efficacy, Merkel said in her keynote address at G20 Summit that she is willing to raise the issue with the global vaccine alliance GAVI. In her speech, the German Chancellor said that “nothing has been done” on that issue and that makes her “worried” even as several world leaders called for global cooperation and promised fair distribution of jabs. 

“We will now speak with GAVI about when these negotiations will begin because I am somewhat worried that nothing has been done on that yet,” said Angela Merkel.

Her remarks came in the backdrop of the US announcing that first Americans can be vaccinated as early as the second week of December. During the conference, the first of which was held in an Arab nation, Saudi Arabia, the world’s richest nations pledged to support the poor economies that have been further severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they failed to provide more substantial details on how they are planning to roll out the assistance. 

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The G20 Summit took place on November 21-22 in Saudi Arabia with the world leaders uniting virtually. Meanwhile, the global COVID-19 infections have surpassed 60 million with more than 1.4 million casualties from the highly-infectious disease. The G20 participants have vowed to acknowledge the immediate need of finances to back the production and fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines along with the treatments for the infection. 

“We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people,” the group said in their closing communique.

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‘We will be behind’

Meanwhile, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan in a news conference said that there was a general agreement among the G20 nations that “if we leave any country behind, we will be behind.” But a report emerged last month that showed more than 50 per cent of the expected vaccine doses have already been secured by wealthy nations such as UK, US among others. French President Emmanuel Macron had also called for the G20 leaders to “go further and faster” to secure vaccines for poorer nations. 

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