The Japanese government mulls contributing an additional $700 million to the COVAX vaccine-sharing mechanism led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday, citing government sources
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2021) The Japanese government mulls contributing an additional $700 million to the COVAX vaccine-sharing mechanism led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday, citing government sources.
The payment is reportedly to be detailed by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on June 2 and will complement Tokyo's initial pledge of $200 million.
On June 2, Tokyo and the Gavi vaccine alliance are slated to co-host an online summit to discuss ways to promote COVID-19 inoculations across the globe and ensure equal access to vaccines.
According to sources in the Japanese Foreign Ministry, cited by the outlet, the meeting will focus on the goal to ship 1.8 billion coronavirus vaccine shots to developing countries in 2021 to cover 30% of their population. In particular, the summit will discuss ways to raise $1.7 billion that the program is short of to fund the $8.3 billion effort.
