Boris Johnson to urge G7 to vaccinate global population against Covid by end of 2022

Boris Johnson will call on G7 leaders to help vaccinate the global population against Covid-19 by the end of 2022.

The Prime Minister is set to stress the importance of the global vaccine programme when he meets with world leaders in Cornwall on Friday for the first face-to-face G7 meeting since the pandemic hit.

Ahead of the meeting Mr Johnson called on his counterparts to “rise to the greatest challenge of the post-war era” by “vaccinating the world by the end of next year”, in a move he said would be the single greatest feat in medical history.

“I’m calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end this terrible pandemic and pledge we will never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again,” he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson receiving his second jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine from James Black, at the Francis Crick Institute in London on Thursday.

Mr Johnson will urge other rich countries to share doses with developing countries through Covax, the United-Nations backed scheme aiming to supply low and medium income countries with jabs.

He will also call for fewer barriers to the international distribution of vaccines.

The UK has one of the fastest vaccination programmes per population in the world, with more than three quarters of adults given a first dose.

In many developing countries however, vaccine coverage is low. Across the continent of Africa, around two per cent of people have been given a first dose.

The UK pledged in February to give surplus doses to Covax, but, no doses have yet been given. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there have not been any excess jabs available as the UK’s rollout is still ongoing.

Dr David Nabarro, a special envoy on Covid-19 for the World Health Organisation (WHO), described the global vaccination ambition as “wonderful”.

As part of the UK’s G7 presidency, officials said the Prime Minister will also encourage support for a global pandemic radar, a surveillance system that will aim to detect vaccine-resistant variants before they have the chance to spread.

G7 leaders will arrive in Cornwall’s Carbis Bay on Friday for three days of meetings, with a focus on how the group, which includes the US and Germany, can lead the global recovery from Covid.

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