BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Monday it would participate in the World Health Organization mechanism to facilitate poor countries’ access to coronavirus vaccines, offering 400 million euros ($477 million) in guarantees. Last month, the WHO sent a letter to its 194 member countries with a request to join the program, called Covax, aimed at providing global access to an eventual coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine. The aim is to encourage laboratories to manufacture sufficient quantities of vaccines and make sure they are available for developing countries. In addition, Brussels is continuing to negotiate with other laboratories to reach similar agreements to secure millions of doses of possible vaccines for Europeans. “Big thanks to the @EU_Commission for their contribution to the Covax facility and for standing firm on their commitment to multilateralism,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.

Source: Manila Times August 31, 2020 15:45 UTC