Prime Minister Justin Trudeau concluded his first day at the G20 Leader’s Summit in Italy with a significant announcement surrounding vaccine sharing.
Trudeau stated that in total, Canada will donate at least 200-million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the COVAX facility by the end of 2022. This will include an immediate 10-million Moderna doses being committed.
Along with this, the Prime Minister promised an investment of $15-million to the COVAX Manufacturing Task Force Partners, which will help build capacity and develop the production of mRNA vaccines and technologies.
Vaccine equity has been on the forefront of global discussion, with only 3.5 per cent of people in low-income countries receiving their first dose of a vaccine. As of October 23, 2021 in Canada, over 77 per cent of individuals have at least their first dose and over 73 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) currently has a target set to have all countries have 10 per cent of their populations vaccinated by the end of September. That target expands to 40 per cent by the end of the year, and 70 per cent by the middle of 2023.
According to the WHOs website, if all vaccine doses were administered equally, it would have been enough to cover all health care workers and older people across the globe.
The G20 Leadership Summit this year has a strong focus on global economy, climate change, and of course strategies to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is Prime Minister Trudeau’s seventh G20 Summit.
