Leaders of the G-7 are set to sign the FILE – A health worker holds a tray with vials of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 during a priority vaccination program at a community medical center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 6, 2021.The recommendations include acceleration of the development and licensing of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days; a commitment to reinforce global surveillance networks and genomic sequencing capacity; and support for reforming and strengthening the World Health Organization.Some observers responded with skepticism.“Often the G-7, the problem with it is they announced many grand declarations. And if you look sort of a year later, how many did they fulfill?” said Dan Hamilton, director of the Global Europe Program at the Wilson Center, a global policy research group in Washington.1 billion vaccinesEarlier in the week, summit host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the G-7 would announce a plan to donate a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries, including 100 million doses from Britain.France’s President Emmanuel Macron walks to a working session at the G-7 summit in Cornwall, England, June 12, 2021.In May, the U.S. announced it supported an intellectual property (IP) waiver. During the G-7 summit, French President Emanuel Macron said he also supported the proposal.The European Union, however, is pushing for a different approach: compulsory licensing to scale up vaccine production.To waive IP on vaccine technology, all members of the WTO must agree – a long and challenging process with dim prospects for now.
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