- Title: Crack the crisis: activists demand vaccine justice high on G7 agenda
- Date: 11th June 2021
- Summary: FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UK (JUNE 11, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BLIMPS DEPICTING U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON HOLDING HANDS AS THEY SIT ON A BARGE FLOATING AT FALMOUTH HARBOUR "CRACK THE CRISIS" SPOKESPERSON AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF POLICY, ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNS AT SAVE THE CHILDREN UK, KIRSTY MCNEILL, GOING PAST BLIMPS IN A BOAT BLIMPS ON BARGE FLOATING IN HARBOUR (SOUNDBITE) (English) "CRACK THE CRISIS" SPOKESPERSON AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF POLICY, ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNS AT SAVE THE CHILDREN UK, KIRSTY MCNEILL, SAYING: "This G7 is meeting as the pandemic still rages, vaccine justice has to be at the top of the agenda and that means three things: the G7 needs to share doses, it needs to share technology and know-how so we can scale up manufacturing capacity, but most of all they need to share the bill. We have estimated a cost between 50 and 66 billion dollars to vaccinate the world. That's what they said they want to do so now it's time for them to show us the money." MILITARY SHIP AND YACHT / BIDEN AND JOHNSON BLIMPS WITH BIDEN'S HAND READING "#CRACK THE CRISIS" AND JOHNSON'S HAND READING "#Wave of hope" BLIMPS MOVING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (English) CRACK THE CRISIS SPOKESPERSON AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF POLICY, ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNS AT SAVE THE CHILDREN UK, KIRSTY MCNEILL, SAYING: "We are meeting as the pandemic still rages. The G7 have announced they want a billion doses made available by the end of next summer, but what we need is a billion doses made available by the end of this summer. If we can't get ahead of this virus we will see more and more mutations reaching our shores. None of us are safe until all of us are safe and that's why we need vaccinations for all." POLICE ON JET SKI GOING PAST BLIMP
- Embargoed: 25th June 2021 12:32
- Keywords: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson G7 U.S. President Joe Biden blimp
- Location: FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Europe,G7,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EGYK9QF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Blimps depicting US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sailed on a barge in Falmouth harbour as the G7 summit begins on Friday (June 11) to dramatise their plea: step up vaccine deliveries to poorer countries.
"This G7 is meeting as the pandemic still rages, vaccine justice has to be at the top of the agenda," said Kirsty Mcneill of Save The Children charity.
Johnson said he expected G7 leaders to agree the donations as part of a plan to inoculate the world's nearly 8 billion people against the coronavirus by the end of next year.
After Biden vowed to supercharge the battle against the virus with a donation of 500 million Pfizer shots, Johnson said Britain would give at least 100 million vaccines within the next year. Other pledges may follow.
But health and anti-poverty campaigners said that while the donations were a step in the right direction, Western leaders had shown a lack of ambition and a failure to grasp the exceptional efforts needed to beat the virus.
"If we can't get ahead of this virus we will see more and more mutations reaching our shores. None of us are safe until all of us are safe and that's why we need vaccinations for all," McNeill said.
The race to bring an end to a pandemic that has killed around 3.9 million people globally and sown social and economic destruction will feature prominently at the three-day summit which begins on Friday and end on Sunday (June 13) at Carbis Bay.
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