Biden urges countries to donate more vaccines and match 'generosity' of the US
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Global authorities are taking precautions for curbing the spread of a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa
As the world continues to battle against the deadly coronavirus, US President Joe Biden on Friday urged other countries to match the "generosity" of the US and donate more COVID-19 vaccines. "This pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations," he said.
"For the world community, the news about this new variant should make clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations," Biden said.
"The United States has already donated more vaccines to other countries than every other country combined. It is time for other countries to match America's speed and generosity."
With this, he urged countries that are taking part in a ministerial-level meeting of the World Trade Organization to lift intellectual property protections on their coronavirus vaccines. This would allow the manufacturing to expand rapidly.
"This news today reiterates the importance of moving on this quickly," he said.
This comes in at a time when a new variant of Covid-19 has emerged. The variant termed Omicron, has been classified as a "variant of concern" by the WHO. “This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning,” the WHO said, adding, "preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant as compared to other variants of concern."
Global authorities are taking precautions for curbing the spread of a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, with several imposing travel curbs and tightening border control.
Countries including the UK, France, Scotland, Italy, Israel, Philippines, Canada, and the US have banned travellers from southern Africa over fears of the new variant.
US will be restricting travel from South Africa and seven other southern African countries, including, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Starting from Monday, only US citizens and residents will be allowed to travel from the region.
(With inputs from agencies)