'Target to vaccinate the world', says Boris Johnson as G7 pledges 1B COVID vaccine doses

As the G7 conference came to an end on Sunday, UK PM Boris Johnson announced that the group has pledged 1 billion doses of COVID vaccines to aid the poor countries. While UK has been accused of hoarding the lifesaving shots, Johnson asserted that Britain was “doing everything to ensure vaccine availability to the world”. Calling for joint efforts, the conservative leader announced that his administration has set a target to vaccinate the world by end of next year, which would be done with the collaboration of the G7.

The announcement came as the UK hosted this year’s G7 conference in Cornwall from Friday, June 11 to Sunday, June 13. Earlier this week, Johnson had reckoned that he “hopes” that his fellow leaders would make pledges so that together, we can vaccinate the world by the end of next year and build back better from coronavirus." While the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus contagion, Britain itself has announced to give 100 million surplus doses before the end of 2022, including five million in the coming weeks. 

Image: AP