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Summary
- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out a 100-day target for developing new Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.
- Johnson has asked Sir Patrick Vallance to collaborate with international partners.
- The UK has separately confirmed to provide a majority of surplus vaccines in the future to the COVAX initiative.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out a 100-day target for developing new Covid-19 vaccines alongside calling on world leaders to back the collective efforts in expediting the development programme for new treatments, tests, and vaccines. With the 100-day ambitious target, the time to develop new treatments will be reduced by two-thirds, Johnson said at a G7 meeting on Friday.
The 100-day window can certainly help in minimising the adverse and unfortunate impact of future health crises, effectively safeguarding countless lives. Johnson has asked Sir Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Adviser to the government of the UK, to collaborate with the international partners in order to expedite the extant process of developing tests, treatments and vaccines.
Vallance has been told to work with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, World Health Organisation, and other related scientific, as well as industry experts, to advise the G7 on the same. The UK has separately confirmed to provide a majority of surplus vaccines in the future to the COVAX initiative that can further support the shortfall in the developing countries.
Earlier this year, CEPI proposed the 100-day target to produce a clinically approved vaccine. The support in terms of providing surplus vaccines to the COVAX initiative is in addition to the UK’s multimillion pound funding of £548 million. Johnson has been encouraging other members of the G7 summit to enlarge their respective monetary support for the COVAX that can develop a fair mechanism and equitable access to vaccines for the developing as well as under-developed nations.
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PM Johnson is expected to call on leaders of the G7 summit to support a treaty on preparedness regarding pandemic through the WHO. Johnson hosted the first meeting of G7, the first assembly of all G7 leaders after April 2020, as a part of the UK’s G7 presidency in 2021.
The UK’s G7 presidency will primarily focus on delivering on the objectives in the PM’s Five-Point Plan to Prevent Future Pandemics, initially set out at the UN in 2020.
The national leaders are likely to confirm their respective support for the UK’s health priorities at the G7 summit, discussing several foreign policy issues. Besides, the meeting leaders are expected to discuss the conclusive efforts to address the global challenges, securing a green and sustainable economic recovery from the Covid-19.
By modernising medical trials, creating more innovative supply chain mechanisms and manufacturing facilities for the vaccines with international partnership in research and development, countries can certainly prevent the next pandemic, Johnson said. The catastrophic damage to the health and economy, as well as the social repercussions witnessed in the coronavirus pandemic, can be prevented by reducing the time to develop new treatments and vaccines for emerging diseases.
