ROME -- Finance and health ministers from the Group of 20 economies on Friday called for increasing the supply of COVID-19 vaccines for developing nations to reach a goal of vaccinating 70% of the world's population by mid-2022.
Global disparities in COVID-19 access threaten to leave developing nations behind in an uneven and unsustainable economic recovery from the pandemic, officials warned here. They also established a new task force for finance and health authorities to cooperate on pandemic preparedness and responses, with the first meeting to be held as early as this year.
The call for action comes as less than 2% of the population in poor countries were vaccinated as of Tuesday, compared with 64% in rich countries, according to Our World in Data.
"We will take steps to help boost the supply of vaccines and essential medical products and inputs in developing countries and remove relevant supply and financing constraints," the ministers said in a communique.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called for $100 billion in aid to developing nations.
"A long-term concern is that following the pandemic, developed countries will experience a strong economic recovery while emerging economies face a major crisis," Le Maire said.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire speaks with reporters ahead of a G-20 ministerial meeting in Rome on Oct. 29. (Photo by Rintaro Hosokawa) World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala echoed these sentiments, saying, "If we don't fight [the pandemic] everywhere, we will not have a sustainable economic recovery."
G-20 members have pledged to supply over 1.3 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to COVAX, a World Health Organization-backed program to distribute shots to developing countries. Fewer than 170 million of them have been delivered so far, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The WHO on Thursday said it will need $23.4 billion over the next 12 months to bolster global access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments.
G-20 countries "have the ability to make the political and financial commitments that are needed to end this pandemic," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Health ministers were invited to meet shortly before the G-20's annual summit this year in Rome as nations are eager to advance the global coronavirus response through the framework. (Photo by Rintaro Hosokawa) Leading international figures, including former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Okonjo-Iweala, have signed an open letter urging cooperation from the G-20 on vaccine distribution.
In addition to financial and medical assistance to developing countries, G-20 ministers on Friday also discussed how the world can better combat infectious diseases in the future.
"The severe mortality, morbidity and hospitalization of affected patients have clearly revealed weaknesses in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR), health systems and services, information, and education," the ministers said in the communique.
The newly created G-20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force has goals including "promoting the exchange of experiences and best practices" and "developing coordination arrangements between finance and health ministries."
"We missed the boat the first time around and we need to get it right this time, because there is going to be another pandemic," Okonjo-Iweala said.