World leaders, international organizations and companies which have pledged €7.4 billion to develop new tools to detect, treat and prevent the novel coronavirus have called for the vaccine to be available and affordable to all.
The funds were pledged during a videoconference summit hosted by the European Union on Monday. The sum raised fell just short of the target of €7.5 billion, but additional monies could be pledged in the coming days – and the funds will only be the start of what is needed to take on COVID-19, according to the event’s leaders.
“All this money will help kick-start unprecedented global cooperation,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, which has pledged €1.4 billion.
In a joint statement, the leaders wrote: “If we can develop a vaccine that is produced by the world, for the whole world, this will be an unique global public good of the 21st century. Together with our partners, we commit to making it available, accessible and affordable to all.”
Greece will contribute three million euros, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised during the summit. He added his support to the designation of the future vaccine as “a global public good” accessible to everyone.
“I gladly offer three million euros to our joint effort, beyond the Greek institutions and private foundations that have already made significant gifts in the fight against Covid-19,” PM Mitsotakis said.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
