G7 agrees 1 billion COVID vaccine donation: Communique

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The Group of Seven (G7) countries will provide one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses over the next year and work with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase the contribution, according to an almost finalized draft of the communique.

"The commitments since we last met in February 2021 including here in Carbis Bay provide for one billion doses over the next year," said the draft, seen by Reuters.

Two sources said the draft had been largely finalized by diplomats who worked late into Saturday night to agree most of the text, though they said parts of the draft could change over coming hours.

The G7 said in the draft that the vaccine donations built on exports from domestic production with at least 700 million doses exported or to be exported this year, of which at least 50 percent have gone to non-G7 countries.

The group added that it had "a commitment to continue exporting in significant proportions; and the promotion of voluntary licensing and not-for-profit global production, which has so far accounted for 95 percent of the COVAX supply," the draft said.

The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, aims to secure two billion vaccine doses for lower-income countries by the end of 2021.

(With input from Reuters)