Pacific Rim leaders agree to step up COVID vaccine sharing

Pacific Rim leaders agree to step up COVID vaccine sharing

SeattlePI.com

Published

Leaders of Asian Pacific nations agreed on Friday to step up COVID-19 vaccination sharing as China said it has pledged $3 billion in international aid to support coronavirus response efforts in developing countries.

The virtual retreat for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Russian President Vladimir Putin was held as the delta variant is spurring a spike in infections around the globe.

“There were two things that came through very strongly from the leaders. One was that this pandemic has a while to run and that there is significant work by all of us to be done, and it needs to look beyond our domestic borders,” said New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who hosted the informal retreat. “The second strong theme was agreement and acceptance ... that this will not be the last pandemic we experience and that preparedness is critical.”

Xi told leaders in a pre-recorded message played during their private session that Beijing would spend $3 billion to help poorer countries respond to COVID-19 over the next three years, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. China reports it has provided more than 500 million vaccine doses to other developing countries.

Vaccine sharing has proven to be a divisive issue among members of the forum, which says its primary goal is to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Biden administration has fallen short of its goal of delivering 80 million vaccine doses to the rest of the world by the end of June due to a host of logistical and regulatory hurdles that have slowed the pace of U.S. efforts.

Biden told leaders during the meeting that he was committed to...

Full Article