French President Emmanuel Macron during a video conference to raise funds to fight against COVID-19 said that international efforts to develop a vaccine against coronavirus should make it available to all countries.
“We strive to accelerate research on treatment and the vaccine, although we know that it will take time. At the heart of this initiative is a decision that we must collectively take upon ourselves that this vaccine, when it is made, will be in the public domain. That is, it will not belong to someone, it will belong to everyone, “said Macron, adding that access to the vaccine” should be on the whole planet. ”
He believes that in the face of a pandemic, “every man for himself” tactics would be a mistake.
“It is true, of course, that states seek to protect their population and find their own answer, but we can finally get out (of the crisis) only together,” said Macron.
According to him, this requires cooperation both within the EU and broader international cooperation of states, foundations, private partners.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, distributed a video message on April 24 explaining the purpose of this donor conference.
“We are organizing an online world-wide fundraising conference on May 4. The goal is to join forces and mobilize resources. We want to bring together leaders from all over the world to defeat the virus together,” said von der Lajen, emphasizing what is needed as soon as possible to develop a vaccine, its production and distribution around the world.
“For this we need money. One of the main tasks of this summit will be to raise the first amount of 7.5 billion euros to give impetus to global cooperation. But then more funds will be needed,” the European Commission President explained.
Recall, data from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine show that now there are more than a hundred projects to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus COVID-19 in the world. According to researchers, there are now about 120 such projects, and about 10 of them are already at the stage of clinical research.
