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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Twenty three countries have launched a joint statement on the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation.
The launch of the statement took place at the first meeting of the International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation on August 5, 2021.
This was even as the People’s Republic of China pledged two billion doses of vaccines to the world.
President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, who made the pledge in a message to the meeting, also announced a donation of $100 million to the COVAX.
The statement on COVID-19 vaccine was jointly launched by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco and Pakistan.
Others are The Philippines, Serbia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
“We recognise that solidarity and cooperation are key to fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, a challenge confronting all countries in the world. We must champion the vision of building a global community of health for all, put people and their lives first and make concerted and coordinated efforts to address the challenge.
“We recognise the importance of COVID-19 vaccination as a global public good, and call upon all parties to step up efforts to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries, including making utmost efforts to provide vaccines for developing countries, LDCs in particular,” they said in the statement.
In his message, President Xi who noted that COVID-19 was still raging with frequent flare-ups and mutations, expressed hope that the meeting will make new strides toward realising vaccine fairness and accessibility across the world, lend new impetus to solidarity and cooperation among developing countries, and make new contribution to humanity’s early victory over the pandemic.
The Chinese president said China is providing vaccines to the world, particularly fellow developing countries, and is actively advancing cooperation on vaccine production.
