ROME (Reuters) – Finance and health ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) said on Friday they wanted 70% of the world’s population vaccinated against COVID-19 over the next eight months and created a task force to better fight the pandemic.
“To help advance toward the global goals of vaccinating at least 40 percent of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and 70 percent by mid-2022 … we will take steps to help boost the supply of vaccines and essential medical products and inputs in developing countries and remove relevant supply and financing constraints,” the G20 ministers said in a communique seen by Reuters.
“We establish a G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force aimed at enhancing dialogue and global cooperation on issues relating to pandemic prevention preparedness and response, promoting the exchange of experiences and best practices, developing coordination arrangements between Finance and Health Ministries, promoting collective action, assessing and addressing health emergencies with cross-border impact, and encouraging effective stewardship of resources,” the statement said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Jan Strupczewski)
