French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on pharmaceutical companies to donate 10 percent of their vaccine to poor countries. He also hopes that the G7 will meet the goal of vaccinating 60 percent of Africans by March 2022.
He told the press that “government donations should be in addition to those of pharmaceutical companies”, similar to the promise of a 10 percent donation by the private sector during H1N1 (swine flu) epidemics.
He hoped the G7, which launches in the UK tomorrow / Friday, would “recognize the goal of vaccinating 60 per cent of Africans by the end of the first quarter of 2022”, a union that has set an interim target of 40 per cent by the end of 2021. “This is a higher goal than the goal we have achieved under Goa,” he said, adding that the international mechanism for donating vaccines to poor countries was “only 20 percent”.
“I think the 60 per cent target is right. France is ready to do its part,” he said, recalling that both France and Germany had announced their willingness to provide 30 million units, “allowing the EU to reach the target given at least 100 million doses.”
He told the press that “government donations should be in addition to those of pharmaceutical companies”, similar to the promise of a 10 percent donation by the private sector during H1N1 (swine flu) epidemics. He hoped the G7, which launches in the UK tomorrow / Friday, would “recognize the goal of vaccinating 60 per cent of Africans by the end of the first quarter of 2022”, a union that has set an interim target of 40 per cent by the end of 2021. “This is a higher goal than the goal we have achieved under Goa,” he said, adding that the international mechanism for donating vaccines to poor countries was “only 20 percent”. “I think the 60 per cent target is right. France is ready to do its part,” he said, recalling that both France and Germany had announced their willingness to provide 30 million units, “allowing the EU to reach the target given at least 100 million doses.”
